Biofuels - Potential National Implications

Biomass derived from plants or animal waste is a renewable source of energy. Liquid biofuels for transportation such as biodiesel, methanol, or ethanol can be produced from biomass. Heat can be obtained by reprocessing organic waste. There are disputes concerning the potential for biomass to replace petroleum and other fossil fuels as a sustainable source of energy and also about the environmental impacts of energy from biomass.

In this Energy Conversation, Dr. Michael Pacheco of the National Renewable Energy Lab and Suzanne Hunt of the Worldwatch Institute clarify some of the key issues surrounding the use of biomass to enable policymakers and those who influence them to ask relevant questions about short term and long term ramifications of our energy use options and decisions.