Study: Ethanol Causes Global Warming
So much for America’s “clean” fuel of the future.
WASHINGTON - The widespread use of ethanol from corn could result in nearly twice the greenhouse gas emissions as the gasoline it would replace because of expected land-use changes, researchers concluded Thursday. The study challenges the rush to biofuels as a response to global warming.
The researchers said that past studies showing the benefits of ethanol in combating climate change have not taken into account almost certain changes in land use worldwide if ethanol from corn — and in the future from other feedstocks such as switchgrass — become a prized commodity.
“Using good cropland to expand biofuels will probably exacerbate global warming,” concludes the study published in Science magazine.
My only beef with ethanol is it isn’t marketable (without subsidy it’s far more expensive than gasoline), but politicians keep trying to shove it down our throats anyway. The global warming aspect doesn’t really impact my opinion one way or another, but it will be interesting to see how this impacts those trying to sell ethanol as some sort of perfectly “clean” fuel.
