Converting forest and grassland to cropland adds previously unforeseen greenhouse gas emissions to the cost of biofuels, new study says
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WASHINGTON (February 7, 2008) - A study published today by Science magazine finds that biofuels that use cropland are likely to increase greenhouse gases because previous analyses of biofuels ignored a crucial factor - the use of land. Most prior studies have found that substituting biofuels for gasoline will reduce greenhouse gases because biofuels sequester carbon through the growth of feedstock. These analyses have failed to count the carbon emissions that occur as farmers worldwide respond to higher prices and convert forest and grassland to new cropland to replace the grain (or cropland) diverted to biofuels. Using a worldwide agricultural model to estimate emissions from land use change, the new study found that corn-based ethanol, instead of producing a 20% savings, nearly doubles greenhouse emissions over 30 years and increases greenhouse gasses for 167 years. Biofuels from switchgrass, if grown on U.S. corn lands, increase emissions by 50%. A separate paper released today by two other authors finds that biodiesel from soybeans has similar effects as corn ethanol. This result raises concerns about large biofuel mandates and endorsed the particular value of making biofuels from municipal, industrial or agricultural waste products. Ethanol from Brazilian sugarcane might also produce greenhouse benefits with strong safeguards. The lead author of this analysis, which was released at a Washington event today, is Tim Searchinger, GMF transatlantic fellow and a visiting research scholar with the Science, Technology, and Environmental Policy Program at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. Co-authors include Ralph Heimlich, R.A. Houghton, Fengxia Dong, Amani Elobeid, Jacinto Fabiosa, Simla Tokgoz, Dermot Hayes, and Tun-Hsiang Yu, who are individually affiliated with Iowa State University, the Woods Hole Research Center, and Agricultural Conservation Economics. The full article can be found at www.sciencemag.org or by contacting Science magazine at 202-326-6440 or scipak@aaas.org. The German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF) is a nonpartisan American public policy and grantmaking institution dedicated to promoting greater cooperation and understanding between the United States and Europe. The Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University is a major international center of advanced training and research in public affairs. The School serves interests in both domestic public policy and international affairs, and emphasizes experiential, policy-oriented research and learning in its undergraduate and graduate programs. Woodrow Wilson School graduates pursue careers as policymakers, administrators, and managers in government at all levels and in non-governmental organizations, multilateral organizations, foundations, policy and research institutes, and other organizations - both in the United States and abroad. For more information, please visit the School's website at http://www.wws.princeton.edu/. Click here for a podcast interview about the study with Tim Searchinger, Joe Fargione, Jason Hill, and GMF Transatlantic Fellow Dan Morgan Estimating Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Soy-Based U.S. Biodiesel When Factoring In Emissions From Land Use Change (.pdf) Use of U.S. Croplands for Biofuels Increases Greenhouse Gases Through Emissions from Land Use Change (.pdf) Land Clearing and the Biofuel Carbon Debt (.pdf) Download Power Point presentation (.ppt) GMF Policy Brief, The Impact of Biofuels on Greenhouse Gases: How Land Use Change Alters the Equation (.pdf)
|
 |
