biofuels

photo: Urban

Against prevailing assumptions, Beverly Law (2004) and her colleagues have found that thinning forests to support biofuel production will increase carbon emissions, rather than reducing them. Forests capture a large portion of the carbon emitted worldwide, and some of this carbon is stored in wood and soil for hundreds to thousands of years. "Forest policy should consider current forest carbon balance, local forest conditions and ecosystem sustainability in establishing how to decrease emissions," the research team says.

photo: Pat Schmitz

According to a new study co-led by Evan DeLucia (2000), replacing corn with perennial grasses on the least productive farmland for ethanol would result in more ethanol output per acre and better groundwater quality, in addition to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This switch could convert the whole Midwest "from a source of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere to a sink for greenhouse gases from the atmosphere," he says.

photo: Rodney Burton

Replacing 30% of petroleum energy with biofuels by 2030 will cost about $140 per ton, as estimated in a study co-authored by Madhu Khanna (2009). The Biomass Research and Development Act set these goals in 2000 using current costs of $40-50 per ton.

photo: Dominique Jacquin

Large grasses show promise for biofuel production, since they have higher ethanol yields per acre and lower water requirements than corn, according to a new study co-authored by Madhu Khanna (2009). The study compared yields for the grasses across counties and found potential for greater production of grass biofuels than corn or soy in much of Illinois and Missouri.