Biofuel demand ‘will increase GHGs’

A team of researchers from Princeton University concluded land use change reduces the benefits of biofuels because it would release carbon sequestered by the land into the atmosphere.

Presenting the results of the study at Imperial College, London, Professor Tim Searchinger, one of the authors of the study, said increasing demand for food will put even greater pressures on farmers to convert land for agriculture
He said: “There’s already a carbon benefit being provided by land and previous analyses of the benefits of biofuels haven’t taken that into account.

“Using cropland to produce biofuels will cause large increases in greenhouse gases from land use change.”

According the team’s calculations, biofuels produced from soybeans reduce emissions by 70% compared to regular fuel, but when land use change is factored in, this changes to a 50% increase in emissions.

The study – first published in Science magazine – calculated that it could take decades for biofuels to pay back their carbon debt if forests and grassland were converted to grow them or to grow the food crops displaced by biofuel crops.

Edie