We all know that nothing reduces your transportation CO2 emissions like walking or riding a bike. But a lot of people claim they still need their cars, and biofuels provide one less-polluting alternative to gasoline. While I like biofuels (especially as a bridge technology to get us to an EV or hydrogen-powered future), I also like this article by Mark Lynas, who comes down hard on the idea that growing our own fuel is a purely good idea.
Lynas takes a global view of biofuels. Writing from the UK (I think), he points out that the European Union is going to import a lot of it's biodiesel stock from places like Borneo, where huge swaths of forest are cut down to grow the palm trees for palm oil. What's the point of making cars emit less CO2 if you've cut down thousands of CO2-recycling trees to do it? It's a fair question, one I don't have a good answer to. Lynas also gets into the effect big oil companies and genetically modified plants are having on the biofuel market. Recommended.
[Source: New Statesman]
Lynas takes a global view of biofuels. Writing from the UK (I think), he points out that the European Union is going to import a lot of it's biodiesel stock from places like Borneo, where huge swaths of forest are cut down to grow the palm trees for palm oil. What's the point of making cars emit less CO2 if you've cut down thousands of CO2-recycling trees to do it? It's a fair question, one I don't have a good answer to. Lynas also gets into the effect big oil companies and genetically modified plants are having on the biofuel market. Recommended.
[Source: New Statesman]
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