Biofuels ‘Could Be Worse For Warming’

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The study from Edinburgh university, on which the Nobel prize-winning chemist Paul Crutzen worked, says some biomass crops release around twice the amount of the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N20, also known as laughing gas), which not only wipes out any savings of greenhouse gases but in fact increases global warming emissions. Among the fuels that score badly are rapeseed biodiesel and corn bioethanol, while only cane sugar bioethanol of the fuels studied looks like a better alternative to conventional fuels. A co-author of the study told Chemistry World magazine: ‘What we are saying is that [growing many biofuels] is probably of no benefit and is making the climate issue worse.’

This news story is taken from the October 2007 edition of T&E Bulletin.