Go Zero

According to the first comprehensive analysis of emissions from biofuels, increasing production of biofuels to combat climate change will release between two and nine times more carbon gases over the next 30 years than fossil fuels. Not what we have been told previously.

The study by the University of Leeds is the first to calculate the impact of biofuel carbon emissions across the whole cycle of planting, extraction and conversion into fuel. It is estimated that between two and nine times more carbon emissions are avoided by trapping carbon in trees and forest soil than by replacing fossil fuels with biofuels.

Extracted from plants  biofuels are presented as an environmentally benign alternative to fossil fuels because the crops absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as they grow.

Britain is committed to substituting 10% of its transport fuel with biofuels under Europewide plans to reduce carbon emissions by 2020.  However the study warns that forests must not be cleared to make way for biofuel crops, as clearing forests produces an immediate release of carbon gases into the atmosphere, accompanied by a loss of habitats, wildlife and livelihoods.

 Around 40% of Europe's agricultural land would be needed to grow biofuel crops to meet the 10% fossil fuel substitution target, a demand on arable land cannot be met in the EU or the US.  Growing the crops is therefore likely to shift to developing countries.  The NFU estimates that 20% of Britain's agricultural land could be used to grow biofuels by 2010. Researchers say reforesting the land would be a better way to reduce emissions.

Emphasis should be placed on increasing the efficiency of fossil fuel use and moving to carbon-free alternatives such as renewable energy.

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