Scientists Warn Against Sudden Shift to Biofuels; Climate May be Harmed, not Helped

Wednesday, August 20, 2008 by: David Gutierrez, staff writer
Tags: biofuels, health news, Natural News

(NaturalNews) Scientists have increasingly warned that a hasty switch from fossil fuels to biofuels may actually accelerate global warming rather than helping to avert it, leading U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown to declare his opposition to new European Union biofuel standards that will soon be going into effect.

Recent studies have suggested that clearing forests to grow biofuel crops would release more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than the fuels' use would save.

"If one started to use biofuels ... and in reality that policy led to an increase in greenhouse gases rather than a decrease, that would obviously be insane," said Bob Watson, chief scientific adviser for the United Kingdom's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. "It would certainly be a perverse outcome."

"There are real problems with the unsustainability of biofuels," said John Beddington, chief scientific adviser for the British government in a recent speech. He warned that the massive demand for biofuels from the United States has already led to land being taken out of food production for biofuel crops, delivering a "major shock" to food prices around the world.

The criticism comes only days ahead of a deadline for the diesel and gasoline in all European Union countries to contain 2.5 percent biofuels. Under European Union rules, 5.75 percent of all gasoline and diesel must come from "renewable" sources by 2010.

Citing concerns about biofuel impacts, Brown has declared his opposition to the new quotas. While the United Kingdom is obligated by law to abide by the 2010 targets, the British government is expected to oppose efforts to raise that quote to 10 percent by 2020.

"I take extremely seriously concerns about the impact of biofuels on deforestation, precious habitats and on food security," Brown said. "The United Kingdom is working to ensure a European sustainability standard is introduced as soon as possible, and we will not support an increase in biofuels over current target levels until an effective standard is in place."