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Biofuels: Helping or Worsening Climate Change?
One of the hopes for limiting the impact of climate change has been the goal of using biofuels, such as ethanol, instead of traditional using conventional fuels based on fossil fuels, such as petroleum. However, while these “green fuels” have long been seen as a means of releasing less carbon into the atmosphere, new studies released in Science suggest that this is potentially not the case. (Original Science article behind pay wall.)
There seems to be two main issues here. The first is the emissions released converting the plant material into fuel and transporting it. The second is the release of carbon from clearing the land for production.
This has caused quite a stir. According to Elisabeth Rosenthal in her New York Times article, “Biofuels Deemed a Greenhouse Threat there are serious issues with the land clearing process:
The clearance of grassland releases 93 times the amount of greenhouse gas that would be saved by the fuel made annually on that land, said Joseph Fargione, lead author of the second paper...
Rosenthal goes on to explain:
In the wake of the new studies, a group of 10 of the United States’s most eminent ecologists and environmental biologists today sent a letter to President Bush and the speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, urging a reform of biofuels policies. “We write to call your attention to recent research indicating that many anticipated biofuels will actually exacerbate global warming,” the letter said.
The issue is clearly complex, and there are ways that biofuels might still be valuable (see “Reasons for Hope” below), but it seems clear that some rethinking should be done regarding the feasibility of using biofuels as a straight replacement for fossil fuels.
For more:
“Biofuels Deemed a Greenhouse Threat by Elisabeth Rosenthal from the New York Times
— also from the New York Times: World View: Greg Winter and Libby Rosenthal discuss the downsides of biofuels. (mp3)
“Studies Say Clearing Land for Biofuels Will Aid Warming by Juliet Eilperin from the Wasington Post
“A really bad day for biofuels” by Michael O’Hare from the blog: The Reality-Based Community
Reasons for hope?
“The Path to Better Biofuels: An Interview with Alex Farrell on the Latest Land Use Studies” by Andrew Plemmons Pratt from Science Progress
— or you can listen to the interview with Alex Farrell (mp3)
“Trash-Based Biofuels: From Landfill to Full Tank of Gas” by David Biello from Scientific American
— michael | February 14, 2008 09:19 AM | Something to think about
