Sustainable biofuels

While biofuels might be a way to reduce our dependence on oil, we haven’t found a way to reduce our dependence on agriculture for food, and since we don’t have enough food we cannot afford the trade.

We need to look else where for a place to grow our biofuels that doesn’t take up valuable farmland, food or fresh water. We need to look to the oceans and seaweed for our biofuels.

By putting large seaweed farms at the mouths of rivers, and on the edges of the continental shelves near large cities we can grow fuels near were they will be consumed. This will also allow the “farms” to soak up the nutrient rich runoff and CO2 and use it to increase the growth rate of the seaweed, instead of increasing the growth of algae causing eutrophication. Also, since fishing won't be allowed near the farms, and all the seaweed will offer cover for smaller fish, the farms can help restore fish populations.

Since most seaweeds are long lived and can withstand heavy pruning it is a very good source of harvestable biomass. The issue will be finding ways to convert agarose and other heavily substituted polysaccharides into monosaccharides for alcohol production.