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Friday, February 08, 2008

Study: Ethanol may add to global warming

Another study finds that ethanol and biofuels are not "green" and will only increase greenhouse gasses:

The study said that after taking into account expected worldwide land-use changes, corn-based ethanol, instead of reducing greenhouse gases by 20 percent, will increases it by 93 percent compared to using gasoline over a 30-year period. Biofuels from switchgrass, if they replace croplands and other carbon-absorbing lands, would result in 50 percent more greenhouse gas
emissions, the researchers concluded.

Not all ethanol would be affected by the land-use changes, the study said.

"We should be focusing on our use of biofuels from waste products" such as garbage, which would not result in changes in agricultural land use, Searchinger said in an interview. "And you have to be careful how much you require. Use the right biofuels, but don't require too much too fast. Right now we're making almost exclusively the wrong biofuels."
For some reason, Gov. Rendell continues to push more mandates on ethanol use and more taxpayer subsidies for ethanol produces.

HT: Tax Foundation Blog

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