The Economist has an interesting online debate forum, and this week's topic was biofuel-powered vehicles versus those powered by electricity. After a weeklong of debate and discussion, the forum has concluded that electricity, will power the car of the future. Not surprisingly, the debate revolved around needed advances in battery technology and the land usage of biofuel crops.
Alan Shaw, president of Codexis—a developer of biocatalytic chemical processes used to reduce manufacturing costs across a broad range of industries—concluded his defense of biofuels with the following:
The most compelling aspect of advanced biofuels is that they meet the future need for clean, alternative transportation fuel and offer a realistic strategy to get there. Electric-battery vehicles require a costly and radical conversion of our entire automotive systems and fuelling processes. Biofuels strategically bridge existing infrastructure, ubiquitous automotive mechanics, economic pragmatism and environmental sustainability. Indeed, biofuels, not electricity, will power the car of the future.
On the other side of the debate was Sidney Goodman, the Vice President of Automotive Alliances, a group that oversees the automobile manufacturing industry. He concluded with:
As the leaders of many major carmakers have said, electrification of the automobile is inevitable and, while it will not happen overnight, the transition already has begun in earnest. The science and technology exist today to make mass-market electric cars a reality. Hybrid-electric vehicles are an interim step towards this not too distant future. There is a reason why the majority of devices are powered by electricity today: the electric motor is one of the most efficient machines on the planet. Because electrons are more efficient, we rarely see molecules used as a driver outside the transportation realm.
In the end, 68% of the debate participants voted that electricity is the future of transportation (only 32% voted for the biofuel solution).
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I think there is a market for both electric and biofuel transportation. Why limit it to one or the other. This limited type of thinking is what got us in the problem we're in now.
Sustainable energy is more than just one type of energy.