Biofuels 'worse than petrol' for climate

Gerard Wynn and Timothy Gardner
Reuters

A new generation of biofuels, meant to be a low-carbon alternative, will on average emit more carbon dioxide over the next few decades than burning petrol, according to a new study.

Governments and companies are pouring billions of research dollars into advanced fuels made from wood and grass, meant to cut carbon emissions compared with petrol.

But according to the study appearing in today's edition of Science, advanced 'cellulosic' biofuels will actually lead to higher carbon emissions than petrol per unit of energy, averaged over the 2000-2030 time period.

That is because the land required to plant fast-growing poplar trees and tropical grasses will displace food crops, and so drive deforestation to create more farmland, a powerful source of carbon emissions.

Biofuel crops also require nitrogen fertilisers, a source of two greenhouse gases: carbon dioxide (CO2) and the more powerful nitrous oxide.

"In the near-term, irrespective of how you go about the cellulosic biofuels program, you're going to have greenhouse gas emissions exacerbating the climate change problem," says lead author Dr Jerry Melillo of the US Marine Biological Laboratory.

Read more at http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2009/10/23/2722259.htm