THE KEY QUESTION ABOUT PLANT-BASED BIOFUELS
A Biofuel Debate: Will Cutting Trees Cut Carbon?
Eduardo Porter, February 10, 2015 (NY Times)
’ “…[T]he European Union expects renewable energy — mostly biofuels — to account for 10 percent of its transportation fuel by 2020…[The United States biofuel] goal is about 12 percent…The International Energy Agency envisions using biofuels to supply as much of 27 percent of the world’s transportation needs by midcentury…[because current technology cannot] run cars, trucks, ships and jet planes on energy generated from wind or sun…The argument for aggressive deployment of bioenergy assumes that it is carbon-neutral because plants pull CO2 back from the air when they grow, offsetting the carbon emitted from burning them as fuel. But diverting a cornfield or a forest to produce energy requires not using it to make food or, just as important, to store carbon…The argument for caution has so far mostly fallen on deaf ears. The reason is that policy makers see little choice…The question is, Where will the land to produce all this additional vegetation come from?...” click here for more
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home