Biomass and America's energy future discussed: Charles Wyman and George Huber look at the views on biomass as a biofuel feedstock in a special issue of the SCI/Wiley journal Biofuels, Biproducts & Biorefining.(Comment)

The controversy surrounding first generation biofuels, such as the production of ethanol from corn, a food crop, has clouded the biomass picture and could lead decision makers, investors and researchers to abandon the pursuit of technologies for making fuels from biomass. Unfortunately, the outcome could become a classic case of 'throwing the baby out with the bath water' as the elimination of the only option we have for sustainably making liquid fuels leads to indecision that increases our vulnerability to the political, environmental, strategic and economic consequences of our dependence on petroleum.

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History shows that all too often the projected costs and impacts of sustainable technologies are inversely …