Biofuels: Back to the Future?

Given the current concerns being expressed about the impact that so-called ‘biofuels’ might have on food production, the following quote from the February 1953 issue of Popular Science magazine seems remarkably prescient (if also a shade optimistic):

“Someday we will raise our fuel just as we did when we used horses. One acre ought to run an automobile for a year.”

The soothsayer? None other than Charles F. Kettering of General Motors who, amongst other things, is famous for developing the electric starter motor, ignition and lighting systems that were introduced on the Cadillac in September 1911 (for the 1912 model year). This innovation enabled Cadillac to adopt the slogan: ‘The Car That Has No Crank’.