As part of my ongoing (only partially tongue-in-cheek) rebuttal to the anti-lawn movement, it is my pleasure to report on great reasons to grow a beautiful lawn. The latest good news is that scientists are hard at work developing biofuels derived from organic waste, including grass clippings!
We are not quite at the level of Brazil, with their successful quest for energy independence, nine out of ten cars run on sugarcane ethanol. American ethanol is derived from corn and used only as a fuel additive. Corn derived ethanol is more a government subsidized, political mess than a serious alternative to imported oil, but biofuels derived from materials such as wood, weeds, organic waste, and grass clippings have the potential to become a real alternative.
Even the villainous big oil companies, not to be left out of any potential profits, are exploring alternatives to fossil fuels such as fuel derived from algae. Although mass marketed vehicles filling up on biofuels derived from grass clippings may seem to be a long way off, technology advances exponentially and it may come sooner than we think. The infrastructure is already in place for storage, transport, and refining, and many vehicles already run on a similar fuel called bio-diesel.
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