EU biofuel policy is a 'mistake' - BBC

[Eugene]

Source: BBC News

Last Updated: Friday, 17 August 2007, 15:24 GMT 16:24 UK

EU biofuel policy is a 'mistake'

The EU target of ensuring 10% of petrol and diesel comes
from renewable sources by 2020 is not an effective way to
curb carbon emissions, researchers say.

A team of UK-based scientists suggested that reforestation
and habitat protection was a better option.

Writing in Science, they said forests could absorb up to
nine times more CO2 than the production of biofuels could
achieve on the same area of land.

The growth of biofuels was also leading to more deforestation,
they added.

-snip-

However, he said that so-called second generation biofuels,
which used feedstocks such as straw, grasses and wood
(lignocellulosic material) rather than grains or palm oil,
offered a much better opportunity.

-snip-

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6949861.stm

[mike_c]

1. what most people don't seem to understand is that there isn't...

...any good solution to the problems of sustainable energy production and carbon emissions at our present global energy budget. To see any significant progress we need to reduce energy demand by orders of magnitude.

[Common Sense Party]

2. we need to reduce energy demand by orders of magnitude

And that ain't gonna happen.

[hunter]

3. Oh, it will happen. It will just be very unpleasent.

Demand destruction of the very worst sort.

It's sorta hard to maintain a global economy when all the ports and coastal cities are going underwater, and that's just part of it...

[Common Sense Party]

4. And just when do you expect these ports and coastal cities

to be submerged? How far off in the future? How many decades?

Nobody will do anything to change demand until then.