Is biofuel currently a sustainable energy solution?

Take the US, the world 2nd largest soybean producer, as an example. According to http://www.amazon.com/Oil-101-Morgan-Downey/dp/0982039204), If the entire US soybean oil production was diverted to replace middle distillate then it could replace only 13 days of current annual US distillate demand. One has to be realistic, therefore, about the current capacity of soybean oil production and accept that biodiesel is not a realistic alternative for mass scale implementation. It's also pretty debatable to divert a whole harvest to make fuel rather than food. There is a huge http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opportunity_cost. Sources: http://www.indexmundi.com/agriculture/?commodity=soybean-oil&graph=production, IndexMundi http://www.amazon.com/Oil-101-Morgan-Downey/dp/0982039204 (2009), Chapter 9

Sunlight to biomass efficiency is about 4-8% at peak for crops. That biomass is then feed into an internal combustion engine with 15-20% efficiency. This is incredibly inefficient. Solar panels (photovoltaics) have a sunlight to electricity efficiency of about 14-18%. This power is then used to charge a li-ion battery pack at 80-90% efficiency. This power then hits the road via an induction motor at 80-90% efficiency. Best casing biofuels and ICE vehicles excluding processing/transportation losses for biomass: 8%*20% = overall 1.6% sunlight to road efficiency. Worst casing photovoltaics and electric vehicles (li-ion + induction motor): 14%*80%*80% = overall 8.9% sunlight to road efficiency. QED: Electric > biofuels. I hope biofuels die an unpleasantly sweet death.

The sustainability of the fuel depends on the feedstock (the biomass that the fuel is made from). Corn ethanol and pretty much any kind of biodiesel in the US has a negative energy equation, meaning once you add up all the energy intensive inputs (fertilizer, pesticides, tractor and other farm equipment fuel, transportation, processing and retail distribution) more energy is used in production and distribution than is available in the resulting fuel. The reason it is even close to economically viable is mainly because of government subsidies, both directly for biofuel production, and indirectly by the general subsidization of industrial food crops. If you consider that as much as half of a corn farmer's income comes directly from the US government as a subsidy, and the other half from the sale of the corn, you can start to get an idea why a biofuel producer would look at corn as a feedstock. The best energy equation for biofuel currently on the market is ethanol from sugarcane in Brazil. However, there are other unsustainable outcomes from the production of sugarcane ethanol in Brazil, such as the clearing of rainforest to create sugarcane farmland. The most sustainable biofuel overall is biodiesel made from recycled feedstock. The most common feedstocks for recycled biodiesel are deep fryer grease (usually soy, corn or canola oil, or beef fat), and food safe equipment lubricants (usually canola oil or similar). The problem is that there are many uses for those feedstocks, such as animal feed and making plastics, and the sources are distributed, so it makes large scale commercial production more expensive. At the end of the day, my assessment is that current commercially available biofuels are not sustainable.

Here is a really cool TEDtalk about how "giant batteries" are the solution to a lot of the problem points with todays renewable energy sources! It's really cool! http://www.voaudio.com/share40-78375

No ag biofuel is likely to pencil since they all require fossil-intensive food or fuel crops, batch fermentation, etc. Think of as more pet carbon fuels: corn-ethanol, algae-biodiesel, petroleum oil-gasoline, coal-power, etc. There is a better way of making bio/renewable/alternative fuel: 24/7 in refinery scale facilities producing market ready clean fuel from society's wastes, biomass, or coal, methane and even coal-fired smokestack CO2. Using all carbons, solid, liquid, gaseous.  Alcohol fuels produced via thermal conversion and GTL catalysis holds much greater promise, such as higher mixed alcohol fuel, a138 octane, EPA registered oxygenate fuel for blending and neat use in gasoline and diesel engines. Made from any solid, liquid or gaseous carbon and powering any ICE from a ship to a weedeater. It's called Envirolene higher mixed alcohol fuel, a proprietary formula developed by Standard Alcohol Company of America that outperforms any single alcohol fuel (methanol, ethanol, butanol) and offers volume and profitability that the others lack. If you've never heard of it, come see what we're talking about: Intro article: http://www.openfuelstandard.org/2011/10/higher-mixed-alcohol-fuel-introduction.html

No, it is probably not, but it could be made to be, and it could be the best solution to some of our problems. Before you worry about water, CO2 emissions, money etc. you need to worry about energy. On this front, I agree with others that photosynthetic biomass production is relatively inefficient compared to PV (see and others to the same question). Something else to consider, however, is the energy density and utility of the product. One thing we can't make easily with PV is a liquid fuel, necessary for things like powered flight. Our chemistry isn't as good as nature's. If you compare like-for-like, organic vs. inorganic, from sunlight to hydrocarbons, my suspicion is that biofuels win. The other comparison, like-for-like, organic vs. inorganic, from sunlight to electricity, is more difficult to do as the organic version is in its infancy (e.g. see http://www.nature.com/nrmicro/journal/v7/n5/abs/nrmicro2113.html  and http://eandt.theiet.org/magazine/2013/07/growing-power.cfm), and inorganic wins hands down. While it may not be a sustainable energy producer, it may be our best sustainable energy converter.

The main type of biofuel, popular in the European market, is http://pellets-wood.com/base-p1.html. At  the same time, 50% of the total amount of wood pellets and briquettes  are consumed in the private sector. This choice is justified by both its  price and quality characteristics. http://pellets-wood.com/experts-predict-further-growth-of-the-european-mar-o14058.html

The TL;DR of my possibly lengthy answer is no. Biofuel isn't sustainable for now. For better understanding, Biofuels are classified - according - with kind of feedstock used.​ First generation biofuel are from food crops: maize, sugarcane. Prominent producers are the  USA, and  Brazil. Second generation biofuel are  mostly lignocellulose containing feedstock or wood chips: wood chips,grasses, seeds. prominent producers Austria and the USA. Third generation biofuel are from Algae. Bio-petrol Alicante Spain is doing great research in this. Biofuel production faces several ' kinks' on its journey to becoming sustainable.They include. Competition with food crops for arable lands and water resource. On an average Water use for sugar syrup yo ethanol conversion is  approximately 18 L·water·L-ˉ 1 ethanol.  It doesn't save water as it's a net water consumer. This is mostly with first generation biofuel. Conversion rates aren't that encouraging. Even for sugarcane which is basically sugar,  conversion to ethanol isn't steady, and depends mostly on inxtrinsic factors of both the yeast and the reaction conditions. it's a delicate system and requires constant attention. Brazil - the largest producer of ethanol from sugar cane- used about 700 million m-3 of water - drawn from natural rivers and streams by 140 mills in an around the Amazon rainforest - in the 2007-2008 planting season. It does aid with the reduction of CO2 emissions in two ways. First more 'greens' help adsorb more Co2  from the atmosphere. Secondly, the fuel - ethanol -  provide fsr lesser pollutants than fossil fuel. Although Ethanol burns to produce same Co2 , but it does so in small quantity with no heavy elements like lead, sulphur. Money? No. It expensive to produce: as reactors are delicate  to run and maintain than a oil rig. For instance, to breakdown the cell walls of the Algae - via a process called pyrolysis- acids, bases and energy are used up. Since they aren't natural materials and have to be bought. This puts it out of competition with fossils. Hence, its production is heavily subsidised by governments to encourage its acceptance. There is a bright future for biofuels. As Fossils fuel  reserves depletes around the world, and the clamour for cleaner alternative grow, biofuel will definately be on the table. http://www.biofuelstp.eu/algae-aquatic-biomass.html http://www.sugarcane.org

Biofuel is a sustainable source of energy depending on the type of fuel being produced and its main source of input –  corn, sugarcane etc. The one with most potential is biodiesel. It is a direct alternative to oil and can readily be used in todays automobiles, planes and trains, whereas ethanol requires different type of engine to be installed. Biodiesel also comparatively releases the same if not more energy than diesel and gas whereas ethanol is less powerful and less efficient than gas. Algae based biodiesel being harnessed by companies like Solazyme are the best examples of successful models for harvesting algae. Algae are most sustainable because they multiply exponentially with a diet of sugar and do not need excess land to be made economical as they are harvested in large tanks. Although large amount of is water is required, much like when pumping oil, it is in a different capacity and it is mostly recycled and reused in the process. Although Solazyme has received orders from the US Navy ( I believe) the fuel requires much larger volume of demand for infrastructure investments, improvement in technology and to better reach economies of scale. Apart from government support, it also needs to be distributed through the current network, a new network or a combination of both to end-users. Its retail presence also needs to increase for it to be more viable and practical alternative. Finally, marketing and raising public knowledge and awareness along with the above suggestions would help boost demand.   Overall, biodiesel does have the potential to be viable in the long term. As we are all stakeholders living in a cleaner, healthier and carbon free environment is something which should be pursued. Biodiesel allows for a more domestic and practical solution to energy needs and potentially high and stable returns for shareholders.