The promise and peril of biofuels

Excerpt

The conservation implications of our drive to increase production of biofuels—ethanol, biodiesel, and other liquid fuels—was a major topic of conversation at our recent Soil and Water Conservation Society annual conference in Tampa. In concurrent and plenary sessions, in the hallways, and in meeting rooms, conservationists discussed and sometimes argued about the wisdom of emphasizing biofuels as solutions to our energy and greenhouse gas challenges.

I've said in previous columns that I think water and energy will be the conservation challenges that drive our profession in this century. How we meet or don't meet those challenges will have profound implications for our economy, our society, and our environment. Water, energy, and soil are inextricably linked, and biofuel production is right in the middle of that web. No wonder conservationists have been talking and arguing about biofuels. Here is what I took away from the conversations in Tampa.

The high commodity prices, intensification of production, and expansion of crop acres that we see today are reminiscent of the …