Biofuels Deemed a Greenhouse Threat

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Biofuels Deemed a Greenhouse Threat

 

 

 

[NY Times]

 

By ELISABETH ROSENTHAL

 

Published: February 8, 2008

 

 

 

Almost all biofuels used today cause more greenhouse gas emissions than

conventional fuels if the full emissions costs of producing these " green "

fuels are taken into account, two studies being published Thursday have

concluded.

 

 

 

The benefits of biofuels have come under increasing attack in recent months,

as scientists took a closer look at the global environmental cost of their

production. These latest studies, published in the prestigious journal

Science, are likely to add to the controversy.

 

 

 

These studies for the first time take a detailed, comprehensive look at the

emissions effects of the huge amount of natural land that is being converted

to cropland globally to support biofuels development.

 

 

 

The destruction of natural ecosystems - whether rain forest in the tropics

or grasslands in South America - not only releases greenhouse gases into the

atmosphere when they are burned and plowed, but also deprives the planet of

natural sponges to absorb carbon emissions. Cropland also absorbs far less

carbon than the rain forests or even scrubland that it replaces.

 

 

 

Together the two studies offer sweeping conclusions: It does not matter if

it is rain forest or scrubland that is cleared, the greenhouse gas

contribution is significant. More important, they discovered that, taken

globally, the production of almost all biofuels resulted, directly or

indirectly, intentionally or not, in new lands being cleared, either for

food or fuel.

 

 

 

" 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, lead author of one of the studies and a researcher

in environment and economics at Princeton University. " Previously there's

been an accounting error: land use change has been left out of prior

analysis. "

 

 

 

These plant-based fuels were originally billed as better than fossil fuels

because the carbon released when they were burned was balanced by the carbon

absorbed when the plants grew. But even that equation proved overly

simplistic because the process of turning plants into fuels causes its own

emissions - for refining and transport, for example.

 

 

 

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, and a scientist at the Nature

Conservancy. " So for the next 93 years you're making climate change worse,

just at the time when we need to be bringing down carbon emissions. "

 

 

 

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Full story:

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/08/science/earth/08wbiofuels.html

 

 

 

OR: http://tinyurl.com/2e4sbg