Actually there is a significant amount of waste even from switchgrass ethanol production:

Lignin and protein, two important co-products, have the potential to significantly improve the economics of biorefineries. Lignin is a non-fermentable residue from the hydrolysis process. It has an energy content similar to coal and is employed to power the operation, thereby reducing production costs. "There is enough residue [lignin] left over to meet the energy needs of the process plus make additional ethanol or electricity," says Eric Larson, a research engineer at the Princeton Environmental Institute.

Cellulosic Ethanol.

It seems that every discussion I've seen on the environment is a 'pick one technology over the other' argument. There is no one 'silver bullet' technology to our environmental or efficiency problems.

Why can't we take a measured approach that includes both technologies?

In this case, the study completely ignored the possibility of using an acre of switchgrass as an ethanol feedstock and then using the resulting 'waste' as a fuel to produce electricity.

As another example, what about harvesting corn as a foodstock, then using the leftover stover as an ethanol feedstock and finally using whatever is left for electricity generation?

Am I the only one who sees the synergestic possibilities?

Am I the only person on /. that thinks that both sides of this issue needs extremist?

I have no desire to live in a world that has no Copyright, no Trademarks and no Patent System, but I fully support this effort.

The Piratpartiet will never achieve it's stated goals because they are unreasonable. Their extreme view exists solely to counter the lopsided environment we are currently in. Democracy (if it is working correctly) will force the two sides into a compromise that will create a balanced framework that benefits everybody.

As an example, not many people like the world that RMS wants. But without his voice, Open Source Software would not thrive as it does today.