Any worthy idea can withstand and even be improved by naysayers; scolds and skeptics play the useful role of pointing out obvious flaws. The biofuels industry has no more persistent, articulate, and scathing critic than David Pimentel, professor emeritus of entomology at Cornell University. David Pimentel. Photo: Chris Hallman / Cornell University Photography. In 1979, with the price of oil surging and a politically connected company called Archer Daniels Midland investing heavily in ethanol production, the U.S. Department of Energy invited Pimentel to chair an advisory committee to look at ethanol as a gasoline alternative. The committee's conclusion: ethanol requires …

Imagine how amazing petroleum must have seemed back when it was an emerging alternative fuel in the U.S. Drill a hole in the ground in some parts of Texas and Pennsylvania, and rich black stuff would come gushing up, loaded with energy. What could possibly be the problem with such bounty? In some quarters, biofuels inspire similar wide-eyed wonder today. They are, after all, renewable and carbon-neutral ... right? By now, most environmentalists are aware that biofuel production as currently practiced generates serious ecological problems. Moreover, it's dominated by a few corporations that, despite billions in public subsidies, clearly place …

Representatives of more than 50 U.S. tribes gather for climate conference This week, representatives of more than 50 Native American tribes met in Arizona for a first-ever tribal climate-change conference. The crisis is hitting home on U.S. reservations, as species migrate and weather patterns change. "We basically have two seasons now," said Robert Gomez of the Taos Pueblo reservation in New Mexico. "Hot and dry, and cold and dry." With reservation boundaries fixed, options are limited: "As our [plant and animal] species migrate off, we don't have the right to follow them," says Terry Williams, natural resources commissioner for the …

In one of my other lives, I'm a bit of a tech/computer/gadget geek, though by the high standards of online dorkdom, a mere amateur. Those interests don't overlap with my gristmillian preoccupations all that often -- but today, twice: First, an amusing post on ForeignPolicy.com reveals that the avatars used in MMORPGs use as much energy -- in hardware and server cycles -- as the typical Brazilian. (If the preceding sentence means nothing to you, well, perhaps it's time to go outside and shout at the kids to get off your lawn.) Second, ecogeek draws our attention to a truly …

David mentioned something about it when it came out a couple of months ago, but as Grist wraps up its first week of biofuel coverage, it's worth pointing to again: after much testing and comparing, Consumer Reports finds the whole live-green-go-yellow, E85 thing pretty much a sham. As Grist readers will know, the government gives automakers a credit against their mileage requirements for every flex-fuel vehicle (able to run on ethanol, gas, or a mix). CR's conclusion: Detroit is using it a lever to help it churn out more gas-guzzling SUVs, and the policy is working to increase fossil fuel …

With all the talk of biofuels swirling around, things can get a bit confusing. So we've put together this handy glossary for your reference. Now you can pontificate at cocktail parties with the best of 'em. And just to keep you awake (yeah, we remember second grade too), we've included some explanatory videos thanks to the good folks at Current TV. Look! Real people using and talking about biofuels! See, it's not all just a journalistic fantasy. Got more terms to suggest? Add them in Gristmill.     Biodiesel: A fuel derived from biological sources that can be used in …

Does a music mogul who signed the Rolling Stones and Janet Jackson have what it takes to make a pop star out of biofuels? Sir Richard. Earlier this fall, publicity-chasing British entrepreneur Richard Branson made a $3 billion bet that he could do just that -- and help solve the climate crisis to boot -- via Virgin Fuels, a new company in his wide-ranging Virgin Group. An ear for music doesn't necessarily indicate an eye for energy technology, of course. Branson has proved himself remarkably versatile over the last few decades, expanding his Virgin brand beyond the record label into …

Dan Freeman. As a kid, Dan Freeman experimented with using alcohol to run lawnmowers and minibikes. (Oh, to have been a fly on the wall for that parent-son conversation.) These days, he runs Dr. Dan's Alternative Fuel Werks, a Seattle-based biodiesel retail and distribution company with customers ranging from school districts to organic farmers to concerned individuals who want to drive greener. Grist recently spoke to the good doctor -- who got his nickname years ago from his father, an underemployed Ph.D. at the time -- about waste reduction, the power of local energy sources, and why biofuels are like …

If you live in a city of any size, you've likely seen them out there: boxy little '80s-era foreign cars, bumpers adorned with pro-ecology and anti-war slogans, and references to "grease." Even the fumes they emit may smell different: literally like French fries, in some cases; like generic used vegetable oil in others. Foh sizzle my fuel-izzle. Photo: iStockphoto Welcome to the small-scale biodiesel movement, a grassroots challenge to Big Oil and Big Ag. While corporate giants create fuel by refining crude oil and fermenting corn, these more modest initiatives focus on a feedstock no one else wants: waste cooking …

As the court-watchers (or even dabblers) amongst you are aware, the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court seemed preoccupied with the issue of standing during the recent oral argument in Massachusetts v. EPA. This debate has echoed in the blogosphere. Jonathan Adler argues, both on Volokh Conspiracy (it's a bit buried) and in an amicus brief (PDF), that global warming causes nonjusticiable, generalized injuries. Grist's own David Roberts questions whether a court order can provide Massachusetts with any relief. The Sierra Club's Executive Director, Carl Pope, believes that an adverse standing decision would have an enormous negative impact on environmental …