Resolving the Biofuels Dilemma

New analysis explores the hidden impacts of biofuels

BOULDER, CO, July 8, 2008 - Do biofuels help to solve the greenhouse gas problem?  Or do they make it worse?
 
In the July/August issue of SOLAR TODAY magazine, Carol Werner examines that question in detail, and concludes that biofuels have the capacity to make a significant contribution to progress against global warming - but only if they're grown using sustainable land-use practices.
 
Werner, executive director of the Environmental and Energy Study Institute in Washington, D.C. and a member of the American Solar Energy Society's Policy Committee, has often testified before Congress on energy issues. In her SOLAR TODAY article, Werner analyzes two studies published in Science magazine in February. While those papers pointed out that clearing rainforest to grow biofuels is counter-productive, they also identified several feedstocks - and appropriate land to grow them - that provide economically viable biofuels with a net improvement in atmospheric carbon balance.
 
In general, Werner warns, biofuel feedstocks should not be grown on freshly cleared land nor on agricultural land converted from food production. Instead, we should derive biofuels from agricultural wastes and from biomass grown on non-agricultural lands.
 
Agricultural wastes include the non-edible parts of food crops (stover and bagasse, for instance), grass clippings and livestock manure. Non-agricultural feedstocks include forest slash (mostly the waste from logging and material cleared in habitat-restoration operations), shrubs, grasses and municipal waste. In particular, Werner points out that reclaiming desertified land with grasses or trees for feedstock use can greatly increase carbon storage in soils. Finally, oil-bearing algae show promise for growing biofuel in a wide variety of non-agricultural environments.

To read the article "Resolving the Biofuels Dilemma," see the digital version of SOLAR TODAY at www.solartoday-digital.org/solartoday/20080708/
 

Note to Editors: Contact Neal Lurie at American Solar Energy Society (303.443.3130 x105) to learn more and to set up an interview with Carol Werner, the author of the article.

About SOLAR TODAY
SOLAR TODAY is the award-winning magazine published by the nonprofit American Solar Energy Society and is sold on newsstands nationwide. For over 20 years, SOLAR TODAY has been the voice of the renewable energy community.

About the American Solar Energy Society
Founded in 1954, the American Solar Energy Society (ASES) is the nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing the use of solar energy, energy efficiency, and other sustainable technologies in the U.S.  ASES leads national efforts to promote solar energy education, public outreach, and advocacy. Learn more at www.ases.org

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