Global Limits Of Biomass Energy
Saturday, June 14, 2008 - 00:35
in Earth & Climate
Biomass energy--energy generated from agricultural waste or specially grown energy crops--has been widely touted as a clean, renewable alternative to fossil fuels. Research is booming to improve energy crops and methods of converting crops to fuel. Already, Brazil gets 30% of its automotive fuel from ethanol distilled from sugar cane. But critics warn that "energy farming" will gobble up land needed to grow food or will impinge on natural ecosystems, possibly even worsening the climate crisis.