Biofuels 'can harm the environment'

1.Biofuels 'can harm the environment' By Fiona Harvey Financial Times, July 25 2006 http://www.ft.com/cms/s/4275e8b6-1b79-11db-b164-0000779e2340.html EXCERPT: Biofuels can make up no more than 5 per cent of petrol or diesel consumption in the US and the European Union without causing environmental damage, according to a report from Bank Sarasin, the Swiss bank. The report examined the risk that producing biofuels would leave less fertile land to devote to food production, so raising the price of staple foods, and of the danger that increasing biodiesel production in areas such as south-east Asia might lead to the cutting down of rainforest, with dire environmental consequences. Biofuels are vehicle fuels derived from plants such as sugar cane or soya that produce fewer greenhouse gas emissions than fossil fuels --- 2.New Study Throws Doubt on the Benefits of Ethanol Reporting by Paul Gleason E/The Environmental Magazine, July 12, 2006 http://www.emagazine.com/view/?3278 EXCERPT: Ethanol production is on the rise. Last year the amount of U.S. corn that became ethanol was 14 percent, up three percent from four years ago. This year, the Department of Agriculture estimates one in five bushels of corn could become ethanol fuel. But according to a recent report from the University of Minnesota, ethanol may not be as green an option as its proponents make it out to be. Source; AP Press: www.enn.com/today.html?id=10839 Vancouver Sun: www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/business/story.html?id=445278e7-17bb-4443-9 931-2d4b6a131fb4 --- 3.Q&A: Robert Malone, chairman, BP America Chron.com, July 29, 2006 http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/4080721.html EXCERPT: Q: Ethanol has been talked about for decades, but with a new blessing from Congress it seems to actually be a reality now. Is ethanol here to stay? Is its promise all it's cracked up to be? A: Ethanol is becoming an increasingly important part of the fuel supply. BP has been blending ethanol in gasoline for more than 25 years, and we sell ethanol-blend fuels in 20 states. Last year alone we blended 575 million gallons of ethanol with gasoline in the U.S. - eliminating about 1 million tons of CO2 emissions. I believe bio-fuels are here to stay and that ethanol will be joined in the market by new bio-fuels, which can be produced in greater volumes at lower cost with less environmental impact from genetically engineered plants. We're going to invest $500 million in that effort over the next 10 years.

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