RAPESEED BIOFUEL 'MORE HARMFUL THAN BURNING OIL OR PETROL'
The Times (22nd September) has reported on a new piece of independent research that shows that rapeseed and maize biofuels may actually produce more harmful greenhouse gases than burning fossil fuels. Fossil fuels tend to produce CO2, the most common greenhouse gas. But Carbon Dioxide is not the most effective greenhouse gas. The problem with CO2 is that globally we produce huge and growing quantities of it but Methane, Nitrous Oxide, HFCs and CFCs are also greenhouse gases and these can be far far worse in terms of heating up the planet. Nitrous Oxide is an estimated 296 times more powerful as a greenhouse gas than Carbon Dioxide and this is the issue with biofuels from maize and rapeseed. Maize for ethanol is the main biofuel in the USA and scientists have found that the nitrogen used in fertilisers ends up being concerted and emitted as a harmful gas. The new research, which appears in the Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics journal is written by scientists from the UK, US and Germany includes Noble prize-winner Professor Paul Crutzen, an expert on the ozone layer, and Professor Kevin Smith from the University of Edinburgh. Dr David Reay, also from the University of Edinburgh, projected that with the US Senate aiming to increase maize ethanol production sevenfold by 2022, the greenhouse gas emissions from transport will rise 6 per cent. The researchers have pointed to the importance of ensuring that the measures put in place to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are assessed thoroughly before being hailed as a solution whilst another academic, Dr Franz Cohen from the University of Basel added 'it is to be hoped that those taking decisions on subsidies and regulations will in the future take N20 emmissions into account and promote some forms of biofuel production whilst abandoning others.
The Times (22nd September) has reported on a new piece of independent research that shows that rapeseed and maize biofuels may actually produce more harmful greenhouse gases than burning fossil fuels. Fossil fuels tend to produce CO2, the most common greenhouse gas. But Carbon Dioxide is not the most effective greenhouse gas. The problem with CO2 is that globally we produce huge and growing quantities of it but Methane, Nitrous Oxide, HFCs and CFCs are also greenhouse gases and these can be far far worse in terms of heating up the planet. Nitrous Oxide is an estimated 296 times more powerful as a greenhouse gas than Carbon Dioxide and this is the issue with biofuels from maize and rapeseed. Maize for ethanol is the main biofuel in the USA and scientists have found that the nitrogen used in fertilisers ends up being concerted and emitted as a harmful gas. The new research, which appears in the Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics journal is written by scientists from the UK, US and Germany includes Noble prize-winner Professor Paul Crutzen, an expert on the ozone layer, and Professor Kevin Smith from the University of Edinburgh. Dr David Reay, also from the University of Edinburgh, projected that with the US Senate aiming to increase maize ethanol production sevenfold by 2022, the greenhouse gas emissions from transport will rise 6 per cent. The researchers have pointed to the importance of ensuring that the measures put in place to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are assessed thoroughly before being hailed as a solution whilst another academic, Dr Franz Cohen from the University of Basel added 'it is to be hoped that those taking decisions on subsidies and regulations will in the future take N20 emmissions into account and promote some forms of biofuel production whilst abandoning others.
