Biofuels in the USA - Growing risk for taxpayers and wildlife
SUMMARY: "Good biofuel crops can make great invasive species. That’s one of the findings of a new report released today by the National Wildlife Federation. Growing Risk: Addressing the Invasive Potential of Bioenergy Feedstocks explores the challenges and policy solutions surrounding the use of non-native and potentially invasive bioenergy crops. Numerous non-native and genetically modified species are already being considered for use as biomass feedstocks.
KEEP AMERICA’S CORN SAFE
The renewable fuels lobby has persuaded the U.S. Agriculture Department to approve the sale of seed corn genetically modified to speed production of ethanol. But that seed also threatens corn grown for human consumption.
The potentially costly decision reflects an unwise focus on biofuels that is already contributing to rising food prices. Food industry spokesmen warned that if this industrial corn cross-pollinates or becomes mixed with food corn, it could cause corn products to crumble and become soupy, leading to massive food recalls.
The great biofuel delusion
Have you ever thought about what you are going to put in your car's tank when petrol becomes prohibitively expensive as the world’s oil supplies start to dry up? And have you ever worried about the fact that the greenhouse gasses emitted by the car you drive every day make a massive contribution to climate change?
"No worries," you say. "We'll just convert all of our cars to run on biofuels!"
Indeed, biodiesel and bioethanol are often portrayed as the green and sustainable answer to our transport woes in an oil-free future. But how viable and eco-friendly are such biofuels really?
Europe's Green Energy Portfolio Up in Smoke?
By Stephen Leahy
BERLIN, Jun 7, 2010 (IPS) - Europe seems hell-bent on burning the world's forests for bioenergy, even as it offers billions of euros to save them, critics say.
Advanced biofuels will stoke global warming
Mon Oct 26, 2009 1:46 am (PDT)
LONDON/WASHINGTON, Oct. 22 (Reuters) A new generation of biofuels, meant to be a low-carbon alternative, will on average emit more carbon dioxide than burning gasoline over the next few decades, a study published in Science found on Thursday.
Governments and companies are pouring billions of research dollars into advanced fuels made from wood and grass, meant to cut carbon emissions compared with gasoline, and not compete with food as corn-based biofuels do now.
