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Bio Madness
Some years ago I reported on a study by the University of Berkeley which found that ethanol from corn created more environmental damage in terms of greenhouse gas emissions than excavating for oil. The study was largely ignored as the power of the vested interests lobbied for ethanol from corn and matters have reached a stage where more than half of American corn is grown for biofuel production, damaging the environment and sending the prices of the staple higher than they should be.
Another study has been published, funded by the Federal Government and undertaken by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln which shows that biofuels actually increase greenhouse emissions compared with oil, when you look at the whole life cycle. The increase is significant – 7%.
The vested interests are trying to claim that the study is wrong and that the research is flawed.
In the United Kingdom and the European Union biofuels and biomass are encouraged and as in the United States there are subsidies for them which distort the market. These subsidies are based upon a flawed concept about biofuels and biomass. They are not good for the environment and if they are cultivated in ways which are environmentally friendly and reduce emissions then they are simply too expensive even with high subsidies.
Filed under: carbon emissions, climate change, global warming Tagged: biofuels, biomass, corn, ethanol from corn 
Source: http://robertkyriakides.wordpress.com/2014/04/22/bio-madness/
