Climate change
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Bioenergy > Issues > Environmental issues > Climate change
Information about biofuels and bioenergy and climate change.
Contents |
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Issues
- Greenhouse gases/Carbon dioxide/Carbon emissions
- Greenhouse gas balance/net carbon emissions of fuels
- Life cycle analysis of carbon emissions
- Carbon credits
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Events
- 3-5 June 2008, Rome, Italy: High-Level Conference on World Food Security and the Challenges of Climate Change and Bioenergy - (Themes: food security, climate change). Organized by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). To be preceded by a series of expert meetings and stakeholder consultations; see meetings schedule.
- 26-27 June 2008, Hamburg, Germany: Fuelling the climate: 2nd European Symposium on Technological Developments in Renewable Energy (Themes: biofuels, climate)
- 8-10 September 2008, Newcastle, UK: 2008 Conference of the International Biochar Initiative: Biochar, Sustainability and Security in a Changing Climate (Themes: biochar, sustainability, climate)
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News
- Biofuels May Hinder Antiglobal-Warming Efforts - Carbon Emissions Could Increase As Land-Use Shifts, 8 February 2008, by the Wall Street Journal: "While the U.S. and others race to expand the use and production of biofuels, two new studies suggest these gasoline alternatives actually will increase carbon-dioxide levels.
- "A study published in the latest issue of Science finds that corn-based ethanol, a type of biofuel pushed heavily in the U.S., will nearly double the output of greenhouse-gas emissions instead of reducing them by about one-fifth by some estimates. A separate paper in Science concludes that clearing native habitats to grow crops for biofuel generally will lead to more carbon emissions."
- The Science articles prompted many responses, including one by the US renewable energy promotion coalition 25x'25, which read, in part:
- "Unfortunately, mainstream media coverage of the studies failed to report that they also identified ways to avoid these problems and insure that future biofuels give us both a new renewable energy source and greatly reduced greenhouse gas emissions. The 25x'25 Alliance and its partners are one in their agreement that environmentally sensitive lands should not be exploited in pursuit of renewable fuels...."
- "The current generation of biofuels is leading to a new stage of cellulosic biofuel development that will not only minimize land use changes, but will actually enhance the environment...."
- "Biofuels provide a much-needed and environmentally sounder alternative to petroleum fuels....Ethanol and second generation biofuels remain the only fuel options available that address our need to enhance our national security and improve our environment."[1]
- More Bad News for Ethanol, by Energy Roundup (the Wall Street Journal's energy blog): "Another brick in the wall against ethanol. Academics tasked with plotting California’s transition to a low-carbon fuel have delivered more bad news: Ethanol appears to come with a higher greenhouse-gas price tag than previously thought — higher, indeed, than fossil fuel."
- This article reported on a 12 January report by the University of California at Berkeley’s Transportation Sustainability Research Center for the California Air Resources Board.
- "'Simply said, ethanol production today using U.S. corn contributes to the conversion of grasslands and rainforest to agriculture, causing very large GHG emissions,” according to Berkeley professors Alex Farrell and Michael O’Hare.
- “Even if only a small fraction of the emissions calculated in this crude way [through land use change] are added to estimates of direct emissions for corn ethanol, total emissions for corn ethanol are higher than for fossil fuels.”
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Resources
- Lifecycle Carbon Footprint of Biofuels - Report of a workshop held in January 2008 by the Farm Foundation and USDA; includes links to papers and presentations.
