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Biofuels Not As Green As Once Predicted |
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Monday, 11 February 2008 |
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Two new studies published by the journal, Science are questioning the benefits of biofuels by evaluating the global environmental cost of their production. The studies concluded that almost all of the biofuels used today result in more greenhouse gas emissions than conventional fuels. This is because the studies looked at the pollution caused by producing the "green" fuels - the destruction of natural ecosystems which then increases the release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. "When you take this into account, most of the biofuel that people are using or planning to use would probably increase greenhouse gasses substantially," said Timothy Searchinger, the lead author of one of the studies and a researcher on the environment and economics at Princeton University. "Previously, there's been an accounting error: Land use change has been left out of prior analysis."
Ultimately, the two studies offer these conclusions: It does not matter weather the land that is cleared is rain forest or scrub land. The reason - if you look at it globally, the production of almost all biofuels leads to the destruction of natural habitats in some form weather it is intentional or not. For instance, the United States has provided large cropland for growing corn for bioethanol however previously farmers had altered growing corn with soybeans. As a result of the United States farmers solely growing corn, Brazilian farmers are now increasing their production of soybeans and in doing so are deforesting the Amazon.
Read the full story at The International Herald Tribune |
