An interesting article from the New York Times. Basically, two new studies have come out showing that, in total, biodiesel produces more greenhouse emissions that fossil fuels. That counts the energy used to convert the land, the fact that cropland absorbs far less carbon than the rain forests or scrubland that it replaces, and the energy used to process the corn into fuel. Very interesting...
Seems like the answer is to change our life style, not just change our fuel source.
Check the article out here.
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3 comments:
amen, sista. we gotta change, that's all there is to it. ain't gonna be easy, but it could be good, if we'd let it be.
It's true. You've gotta pay attention to this stuff for an awful long time before it starts to feel intuitive that technology can't get us out of this mess.
The problem with change is that it has to be economically advantageous for the consumer. So while biofuels were harmful, they were a step in the right direction because it was using what we have (and we have landfills of rotting corn because corn farmers get tax breaks, so they overproduce). However, for the average american who shops at Wal-Mart and looks for the best deals on just about everything, environmental awareness comes only with either a step up the social hierarchy or a cheap price. And we're just not there yet.
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