Europe backs downs on biofuels from crops
A key panel of European Union lawmakers voted on Thursday to lower a target for using biofuels from crops in petrol and diesel as part of the EU's plan to fight climate change.
The move could curb the growth of a market coveted by biofuels exporters such as Brazil, Malaysia and Indonesia, as well as European farming nations.
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Biofuels made from grains, while being nice since they are renewable, are actually shit. They take up arable land that should be used for food production. They drive up food prices and create the potential for shortages and famine in developing countries.
Until reliable methods for creating fuels from agricultural wastes (eg. after harvesting the corn, using the REST of the plant to make fuel) or directly from microbes via a photosynthetic pathway that sinks carbon dioxide out of our atmosphere and doesn't take up any other resources, biofuels are doing as much harm as good. Maybe more harm. Ugh.
Michael.
The move could curb the growth of a market coveted by biofuels exporters such as Brazil, Malaysia and Indonesia, as well as European farming nations.
Read the rest here.
Biofuels made from grains, while being nice since they are renewable, are actually shit. They take up arable land that should be used for food production. They drive up food prices and create the potential for shortages and famine in developing countries.
Until reliable methods for creating fuels from agricultural wastes (eg. after harvesting the corn, using the REST of the plant to make fuel) or directly from microbes via a photosynthetic pathway that sinks carbon dioxide out of our atmosphere and doesn't take up any other resources, biofuels are doing as much harm as good. Maybe more harm. Ugh.
Michael.