Biofuel is 'worse than petrol' for the planet

File picture: Newspress.

File picture: Newspress.

Published Aug 29, 2016

Share

London - Trendy biofuels are worse for the planet than petrol, a landmark study has claimed.

Bioethanol, biodiesel and other such substances, made from plants such as sugar cane and wheat, are promoted as the greener alternative to fossil fuels.

While petrol and diesel pump damaging carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, it had been previously thought that biofuels were carbon neutral. This is because the carbon dioxide released when they are burned in car engines should be cancelled out by the amount sucked out of the air by the plants as they grow.

But US analysis has now concluded that the crops used to produce biofuel only absorb just over a third of the carbon dioxide that is later released by the fuel. University of Michigan researcher John DeCicco said: “Not enough carbon is being removed from the atmosphere to balance what is coming out of the tailpipe. When it comes to the emissions that cause global warming, it turns out that biofuels are worse than gasoline.”

Professor DeCicco, whose research was published in the journal Climatic Change, said it was time for governments to rethink their support of the green fuels. Doug Parr, the chief scientist for Greenpeace UK, said: “We already knew that biofuels use a lot of land that could be used to grow food.

“Now this study suggests that crop-based biofuels might not be as eco-friendly as their supporters say.”

Biofuel sales have almost quadrupled in the US in recent years and, in the UK, close to 5 percent of all fuel used on the roads must come from renewable sources.

Daily Mail

Like us on Facebook

Follow us on Twitter

Subscribe to our

Related Topics: