So, another study has backed our warnings that biofuel production can increase not reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
New research, reported in The Times, found that biofuels derived from rapeseed and maize caused 70 per cent and 50 per cent more emissions respectively than fossil fuels.
Releases of one gas in particular, nitrous oxide, were double the level previously thought. Nitrous oxide is 296 times more powerful as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.
Rapeseed is the main biofuel crop in Europe and in the US, the main ethanol crop is maize. The US Senate wants to increase maize ethanol production by sevenfold by 2022 which will cause greenhouse gas emissions from transport in America to jump by six per cent.
It is now vital that all bioenergy production is strictly controlled so that emissions savings are certain before the fuel is allowed to be produced.
The UK has promised mandatory checks from 2010 but that is far too late. The damage done between now and then from biofuels based on maize, rapeseed and other crops such as palm oil, soy and sugar cane, could be substantial.
What’s the point in biofuels if they increase emissions? It would be very serious if biofuels were allowed to hasten rather than hinder the damage already underway because of climate change.
For The Times report click here