Fueling automobility

Independent (UK) graphic.

There is Jane Holtz's Asphalt Nation and many other books about sprawl. We know about the environmental degradation caused by the process of exploration for and the extraction of oil. The Independent reports about the environmental degradation and other problems created by the Brazilian biofuel industry--touted as the world's most efficient producer of bio-mass-based fuel, in "Brazil's experience testifies to the downside of this energy revolution."

REUTERS/Paulo Whitaker. Cane farmers burn off at a cane farm near Sertaozinho, about 200 miles north-east of Sao Paulo. Brazil, the world's largest producer and exporter of sugar and ethanol, is a pioneer in the use of ethanol made from sugar cane to power cars.

Also see "Biofuel: the burning question," about the campaign in the UK challenging the push towards biofuels.