Forget Biofuels - burn oil and plant forests, says study
Savaga deforestation to grow biofuel crops is rampantWill burning biofuels as an alternative fuel save the world? Apparently not, because its "not green" says a new study. Here's the opening section from the New Scientist article 'Forget Biofuels - burn oil and plant forests instead':
It sounds counterintuitive, but burning oil and planting forests to compensate is more environmentally friendly than burning biofuel. So say scientists who have calculated the difference in net emissions between using land to produce biofuel and the alternative: fuelling cars with gasoline and replanting forests on the land instead.
They recommend governments steer away from biofuel and focus on reforestation and maximising the efficiency of fossil fuels instead.
The reason is that producing biofuel is not a "green process". It requires tractors and fertilisers and land, all of which means burning fossil fuels to make "green" fuel. In the case of bioethanol produced from corn – an alternative to oil – "it's essentially a zero-sums game," says Ghislaine Kieffer, programme manager for Latin America at the International Energy Agency in Paris, France (see Complete carbon footprint of biofuel - or is it?).
Peter C Glover
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Surely burning biofuels produces similar products of combustion to other carbon fuels?
i dont know where some one gets off saying things with out proof. people who do not know what they are talking about. these critics are not qualified to have opinions to be posted publicly. true scientists post there finding regardless of there emotional ties.