Research News:
Power plants not so green
Biofuel carbon count makes it a poor alternative to forests
Total carbon emissions from biofuels far exceed those generated by burning fossil fuels, according to research published this week in Science. Renton Righelato of the World Land Trust, together with University of Leeds Earth scientist Dominick Spracklen, present data outlining various routes to alternative power, such as production of ethanol and diesel from crops, and conversion from one land use type to another. There’s a startling bottom line: over a thirty-year period, an area of forested land will lock up between two and nine times as much carbon as the emissions avoided if the same area was instead devoted to biofuel production.

The Research:
Read the research behind this story in the journal Science.