"1.
Biomass does have zero emissions, but is not better than zero. Well, I wasn't expecting ''better than perfect' "
No Biomass has plenty of emmisions. Some are actually worse than dino, most are not.
"2.
Biomass is relatively low yield? Yes, but not as low as the oil industry would like to think.
http://journeytoforever.org/ethanol_energy.html Add the fact that anybody can produce biomass (low technology, grows anywhere) and we have a perfect market, leading to a greener planet. Imagine all those third world countries replanting their deserts for profit..."
The oil industry has nothing to do with it. It is called reality. To till, plant, protect, and harvest say a soybean crop (veg oil). You will directly input about 7 gallons of fuel. We not even going to count the fuel required to build the machines your using. That crop is going to yeild (by the acre), on avg, 60 gals of raw oil, at a 80% conversion 48 gal of bio. The cost to get it; seed - $15-30, fert $3-5, land 50-100. Best case $68 (more like $110) for 41 (48-7) gal. Bout $1.65. Add the processing cost upwards of 1.25 (JTF is a joke, find a real site and get good info. This is one of the better ones,
http://biodiesel.infopop.cc/groupee/...rm/f/498605551 ) puts you in the $2.85 range (yes I have and do make Bio from WVO, regardless what Kieth over at JTF, arrogant little SOB that that lives in his own world) says, no labor (all YOU) or any equipment figured in. At least it is somewhat offset by the pulp. Now lets get back to the land issue, you just spent a whole year making enough bio on 1 acre to fill up your Dodge Ram one "1" time. If you fill weekly, you will farming, you now have to have 52 acres set aside just to run your truck. It will not fill up a modern tractor, combine, or semi. Figure the tractor at 50, filled once a month, the combine using about 100 or so a season, and the semi at 150 a year. Now you have to farm 73 acres to just run your operation (50*12+100+150/41) and you haven't provided one drop to anyone else or made a dime farming. And yes you need those things to plant, harvest, and hual your crop (not a choice unless you go back to horses and PETA may have something to say about that).
BTW - What good would it do to plant in a desert
There is a reason nothing grows there.
"3.
Higher demand would cause costs to increase? In the short-term, yes. But in the medium and longer term, the same demand would cause prices to fall. Look at the early years of the oil industry"
Product wise you are correct. As bio fuels increase eventually the price of bio will come down. But you forget all the items that will not. In fact will rise because of the competition for the raw resources. What is going to happen to all those products that are now competing for the veggy oil. Algie you say. The cost of the water itself as now you are taking it from a city full of poeple? Water consumption alone will price out desert algie ponds. They are working so hard on yeild, high sun light areas, they are not even looking at harvest and maintence cost.
4".
Slave labor and destructive practices: these are fundamentally inefficient and are only exist because of market distortions, but that is a topic for another thread."
Actually they are very relevant to Bio production. The much bantered 40, 60, 80 cent a gallon bio is built on slave labor. Yours! You collect/hual/process it. But it is convently left of of the equation. It does not count your cost. Figure that "living" wage thing into it. It quickly becomes a very expensive prop. Same with destructive. JTF, and others, speak of pouring gly by product on the ground and/or simply dumping it a land fill. Where they don't, they speak of openly burining it. Ever hear of "acrolein"? They quietly disregard the little nasties that go with it. In # 2 from above you will have roughly 600 gallons of this stuff to dispose of. Thats just you. Can I pour it in your yard? It will kill the grass, but hey you won't have a dust problem....
"The bottom line is that, in Britain, I can fuel my car for 90p per liter (fossil fuels) or 35p per liter (corn oil at the supermarket). Yes, I know there are issues with taxes and fuel grades, but 35p versus 90p gives a lot of wiggle room."
I can't speak to the prices you mention, but here in the US dino $2.20-$3.00 gal, with veggy (new) $4.00-$5.00 a gallon (from supermarket). I would like to know though, what your dio would cost with no taxes or your veggy with taxes. While it varies by location here, figure 45 cent a gallon road tax where I am. Putting the veggy at $4.50-$5.50 with road tax. Don't know about there but you don't want to get caught here avoiding road taxes out side the allowed limit (4 or 600 gal year personal use) for alternatives.
biomass 
