So how about growing crops especially for bio-ethanol production, that are not intended for human consumption.  Such as grass.

The grass in this report would not only be one possible solution, but researchers claim that it produces more energy than is required to make it.  In other words, it takes less CO2 to produce the bio-ethanol than the amount that is being saved, making an overall net reduction in CO2 – aparently 94% compared to the same volume of petrol.

I wonder what people will find wrong with this solution?

It’s an interesting thought: if we turn the crops and wood chippings into electricity instead of bio-ethanol, and then drove electric cars, this could well have a positive change on the emissions.

Turning biofuels into electricity on a large scale could well mean that the CO2 emissions even better controlled, thus meaning less of it getting back into the atmosphere.

I wonder whether other studies will support their claims?

I had originally planned to buy a diesel car before I found out about bio-ethanol.  I wanted the cheaper fuel and the ability to drive further on one tank of it.

But in Germany, diesel cars are taxed more.  So unless you manage a certain amount of kilometers each year, the saving on the fuel is cancelled out by the higher tax.

These days, diesel drivers are unhappy that the price of their fuel has almost matched that of normal petrol, making it bizarrely more expensive to drive a diesel car than a petrol one.  The only benefit is the distance that you can get without having to fill up again.

Since I tend not to drive long distances with my bio-ethanol car, it looks like I took the right decision after all.

2010?  That’s next year!  Is that very likely?

Not if the “Environmental Audit Committee” in the UK has anything to do with it.  Last year, they said that the EU should forget about their targets, as they claim that biofuels are damaging the environment instead of saving it.

Read more about their findings at BBC News.

One possibility for that dream to become a reality may come from the Dutch Aerospace Laboratory, as this article reports.  Their solution is more of a combined car and helicopter, which would fly in GPS-controlled air corridors.  And yes, apparently it will be able to run on bio-ethanol.

I wonder how long it will be, until I can fly to my customers?