Biofuels 2.0

Here we go again. Since the whole corn ethanol experiment hasn't turned out all that well, a move is on to try a different set of crops for use as biofuels. One problem: some of the proposed replacements are invasive species and carry a risk of invading surrounding areas as weeds. And while the claim is that they are hardy enough to be used on marginal lands that aren't rich enough for growing food, what's to stop farmers from planting them on prime farmland if the price that these new crops fetch is high enough?

... Biologists and botanists are warning that they, too, may bring serious unintended consequences. Most of these newer crops are what scientists label invasive species — that is, weeds — that have an extraordinarily high potential to escape biofuel plantations, overrun adjacent farms and natural land, and create economic and ecological havoc in the process, they now say....

“With biofuels, there’s always a hurry,” said Geoffrey Howard, an invasive species expert with the International Union for Conservation of Nature. “Plantations are started by investors, often from the U.S. or Europe, so they are eager to generate biofuels within a couple of years and also, as you might guess, they don’t want a negative assessment.”