What we don’t know about biofuels

EBI director Chris Somerville on the quest to ‘decarbonize’ and create next-generation fuels

BERKELEY

The institute he heads has a lot on its research plate: Which crops should be grown for biofuels? How would their large-scale cultivation affect land prices, food supply, and food prices? What’s their impact on soils, waterways, the air, and nearby food crops? Under what conditions would farmers choose to grow biofuel crops? When all the energy involved in their production is accounted for, is there a net gain?

It’s been a year and a half since EBI