The biofuels production race is on, but new research might slow the alternative fuel momentum. A new study by The Nature Conservancy and the University of Minnesota finds that converting land for biofuel crops results in major carbon emissions, actually worsening the problem of global warming instead of mitigating it. The first-of-its-kind study will be published in Science later this month.
This research examines the conversion of land for biofuels and asks the question, "Is it worth it?" Does the carbon you lose by converting forests, grasslands and peatlands outweigh the carbon you save by using biofuels instead of fossil fuels?
"Surprisingly, the answer is no," said lead author Joe Fargione, a scientist for The Nature Conservancy. "These natural areas store a lot of carbon, so converting them to croplands results in tons of carbon emitted into the atmosphere."
The Pros and Cons of Biofuels
When scientists analyzed all the benefits of using biofuels as alternatives to oil, they also found that the benefits fall far short of the carbon losses. It's what they call "the carbon debt." If you're trying to mitigate global warming, Fargione said, it simply does not make sense to convert land for biofuels production.
According to research, the conversion of peatlands for palm-oil plantations in Indonesia resulted in the greatest carbon losses, or debt, followed by the production of soy in the Amazon.
"All the biofuels we use now cause habitat destruction, either directly or indirectly," Fargione noted. "Global agriculture is already producing food for 6 billion people. Producing food-based biofuel, too, will require that still more land be converted to agriculture."
The Impact on Rain Forests
These findings coincide with observations that increased demand for ethanol corn crops in the United States is likely contributing to conversion of the Brazilian Amazon and Cerrado (tropical savanna). American farmers traditionally rotated corn crops with soybeans, but now they are planting corn every year to meet the ethanol demand. And Brazilian farmers are planting more of the world's soybeans -- and they're deforesting the Amazon to do it.
Fargione and co-authors Jason Hill, David Tilman, Stephen Polasky and Peter Hawthorne from the University of Minnesota also found significant carbon debt in the conversion of grasslands in the United States and rain forests in Indonesia.
"In finding solutions to climate change, we must ensure that the cure is not worse than the disease," noted Jimmie Powell, who leads the energy  team at The Nature Conservancy. "We cannot afford to ignore the consequences of converting land for biofuels. Doing so means we might unintentionally promote fuel alternatives that are worse than [the] fossil fuels they are designed to replace. These findings should be incorporated into carbon-emissions policy going forward." (continued...)
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