RESEARCHStudy Claims N2O Emissions from Biofuel Crop Production Negate Benefits of Using Biofuels
KATLENBURG-LINDAU_GERMANY (Sept. 21, 2007) - A new study led by Paul Crutzen, the 1995 Nobel Chemistry Prize winner, examined the total emission of nitrous oxide (N2O) from crop production and concluded that the growing and burning many biofuel crops may actually raise, rather than lower, net greenhouse gas emissions, specifically N2O emissions. N2O is a by-product of fixed nitrogen application in agriculture and is a greenhouse gas with a global warming potential (GWP) 296 times larger than an equal mass of CO2. The study is currently undergoing open review in the journal Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics. The paper suggests that microbes convert much more of the nitrogen in fertilizer to nitrous oxide than previously thought - 3 to 5 percent, compared to the widely accepted figure of 2 percent used by the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to calculate the impact of fertilizers on climate change. "When the extra N2O emission from biofuel production is calculated in "CO2-equivalent" global warming terms, and compared with the quasi-cooling effect of "saving" emissions of fossil fuel derived CO2," wrote Crutzen, "the outcome is that the production of commonly used biofuels, such as biodiesel from rapeseed and bioethanol from corn, can contribute as much or more to global warming by N2O emissions than cooling by fossil fuel savings." "The significance of it is that the supposed benefits of biofuels are even more disputable than had been thought hitherto," added co-author Keith Smith. "What we are saying is that [growing many biofuels] is probably of no benefit and in fact is actually making the climate issue worse." (Source: N20 Release From Agri-Biofuel Production Negates Global Warming Reduction By Replacing Fossil Fuels, Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions)
KATLENBURG-LINDAU_GERMANY (Sept. 21, 2007) - A new study led by Paul Crutzen, the 1995 Nobel Chemistry Prize winner, examined the total emission of nitrous oxide (N2O) from crop production and concluded that the growing and burning many biofuel crops may actually raise, rather than lower, net greenhouse gas emissions, specifically N2O emissions. N2O is a by-product of fixed nitrogen application in agriculture and is a greenhouse gas with a global warming potential (GWP) 296 times larger than an equal mass of CO2. The study is currently undergoing open review in the journal Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics. The paper suggests that microbes convert much more of the nitrogen in fertilizer to nitrous oxide than previously thought - 3 to 5 percent, compared to the widely accepted figure of 2 percent used by the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to calculate the impact of fertilizers on climate change. "When the extra N2O emission from biofuel production is calculated in "CO2-equivalent" global warming terms, and compared with the quasi-cooling effect of "saving" emissions of fossil fuel derived CO2," wrote Crutzen, "the outcome is that the production of commonly used biofuels, such as biodiesel from rapeseed and bioethanol from corn, can contribute as much or more to global warming by N2O emissions than cooling by fossil fuel savings." "The significance of it is that the supposed benefits of biofuels are even more disputable than had been thought hitherto," added co-author Keith Smith. "What we are saying is that [growing many biofuels] is probably of no benefit and in fact is actually making the climate issue worse." (Source: N20 Release From Agri-Biofuel Production Negates Global Warming Reduction By Replacing Fossil Fuels, Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions)
