What role could - and should - farms play in a sustainable energy system?

That's a question we've been mulling over for a while at Forum - not least as it sits at the critical junction between food and energy. Pic courtesy of debs-eye via Flickr (CC) But before it can be answered, lots of other questions have to be considered, and these too, spawn a multitude of further queries. Take the role of bioenergy for example. An answer to the question "how much biomass is available for energy production?" is anything but simple. First, we have to negotiate a way through the longstanding food vs. fuel debate (but this itself remains a huge simplification of a complex dilemma. Not all 'food' ends up equal for starters - why, for example, is a doughnut inherently better than a kilowatt-hour..?) read more