Greenhouse gas from biofuels could be less than many think
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Bruce Dale, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Office: (517) 353-6777, bdale@egr.msu.edu
Michigan State University scientists say fears that biofuels will significantly contribute to greenhouse gas emissions are based on a set of assumptions that may not be correct.
According to Bruce Dale, MSU University Distinguished Professor of chemical engineering and materials science, "Greenhouse gas release from changes in land use – growing crops that could be used for biofuels on previously unfarmed land – has been identified as a negative contributor to the environmental profile of biofuels." But Dale and his co-authors Seungdo Kim, MSU visiting associate professor of chemical engineering and materials science, and his son, Hyungtae Kim, a student at Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass., say earlier analyses didn't consider a number of variables that might influence the greenhouse gas emissions associated with biofuels. Their research was published in the January 2009 online edition of the journal Environmental Science & Technology.
More at http://news.msu.edu/story/5836/