Solar energy through biology: fuels from biomass

Hardly a day goes by without there being a news item warning us of the impending shortage of oil and what it is going to cost us — assuming we can get it! The belated realization that non-renewable liquid fuels are going to increase in price, and possibly even be rationed, is one of the main reasons why biomass is being looked into so seriously by so many of the developed countries. For the developing countries, the energy problem is as acute — if not more so. The ‘woodfuel crisis’ is revealing the long-term detrimental agricultural, social and economic consequences of deforestation.