UPDATE 1-Biofuel worse for climate than fossil fuel -study
UPDATE 1-Biofuel worse for climate than fossil fuel -study
Mon, 8 Nov 2010 18:03 GMT
* Analysis of EU biofuels shows negative climate impact
* Industry says new science is insufficiently robust
* EU Commission says not yet time to change policy
(Adds European Commission and Novozymes comments)
By Pete Harrison
BRUSSELS, Nov 8 (Reuters) - European plans to promotebiofuels will drive farmers to convert 69,000 square km of wildland into fields and plantations, depriving the poor of food andaccelerating climate change, a report by green groups warned.
That estimated area equals the size of the Republic ofIreland.
As a result, the extra biofuels that Europe will use overthe next decade will generate between 81 and 167 percent morecarbon dioxide than fossil fuels, the report said on Monday.
Nine environmental groups reached this conclusion afteranalysing official data on the European Union's goal of getting10 percent of transport fuel from renewable sources by 2020.
But the European Commission's energy team, which originallyformulated the goal, countered that the bulk of the land neededwould be found by cultivating abandoned farmland in Europe andAsia, minimising the impact.
More:
http://www.trust.org/trustlaw/news/detail.dot?id=cbf447c4-387d-4d97-bacf-34160549f4ff