night thoughts on biofuels

I really am concerned about the push on biofuels, and began thinking about it while I was not sleeping on a red eye the other night.

I had noticed that the office of governmental relations of the Episcopal Church, in their series of alerts on the Farm Bill during Lent, advocated increased funding for research and development of biofuels without any caveats. I wonder that in the ecochic craze around global warming we have forgotten to think systemically about the impact of such technologies. No, let me correct that - many people that are awakening to environmental activism never learned to think systemically.

Some questions to think about:

What is the true cost of producing a particular bio fuel? That is, what is the cost to the environment?

Assuming that biofuels are grown using industrial agriculture methods, that is with fossil fuel
inputs in the form of fertilizers and other chemicals, what is the net energy gain?

Who profits from the production of biofuels? Is it our same old friends Monsanto, ADM and Cargill? In the proposed legislation who is eligible for these research grants? And are there grants to study impacts of biofuel cultivation and production, not just grants to develop clever ways to make the stuff.

How much biofuel could we produce in the US without it impacting adversely our ability to grow food crops? What impact will biofuel growth and production have on food security? What conservation measures would conserve an equivalent amount of fossil fuels?

If we import biofuels, what impact will that have on other countries food security, habitats and quality of life?

I feel like I need to do a treasure hunt of web sites to find answers to these and related questions.