Study - Nitrous Oxide Emissions From Biodiesel Crops Wipes Out Gains From Avoiding Fossil Fuel - AFP

Oops.

EU legislation to promote the uptake of biodiesel will not make any difference to global warming, and could potentially result in greater emissions of greenhouse gases than from conventional petroleum derived diesel. This is the conclusion of a new study reported in Chemistry and Industry, the magazine of the SCI. nalysts at SRI Consulting compared the emissions of greenhouse gases by the two fuels across their overall life cycles from production to combustion in cars.

The results show that biodiesel derived from rapeseed grown on dedicated farmland emits nearly the same amount of greenhouse gas emissions (defined as CO2 equivalents) per km driven as does conventional diesel. However, if the land used to grow rapeseed was instead used to grow trees, petroleum diesel would emit only a third of the CO2 equivalent emissions as biodiesel.

Petroleum diesel emits 85% of its greenhouse gases at the final stage, when burnt in the engine. By contrast, two-thirds of the emissions produced by rapeseed derived biodiesel (RME) occur during farming of the crop, when cropland emits nitrous oxide (N2O), otherwise known as laughing gas, that is 200-300x as potent a greenhouse gas as CO2.

The results of this analysis should have big implications for policymakers. The 2003 EU Biofuels Directive aims to increase the levels of biofuels to 5.75% of all transport fuels by 2010, up from roughly 2% currently. This will be further increased to a 10% share in 2010, the Commission announced in January this year.

EDIT

http://www.energy-daily.com/reports/Biodiesel_Will_Not_Drive_Down_Global_Warming_999.html

just effin wonderful

the DU ad banner,
from time to time,
promotes 'Al Gore' carbon offsets.

OK, who is going to take up the cause of
nitrous oxide?

we don't use rapeseed or biodiesel.

I wonder if the story considered the implications of atmospheric elements consumed by the rapeseed during the growing season. If one only looks at gases produced at the end of the cycle it would obviously show biofuels as pollution sources along the lines of fossil fuels.

The article doesn't go into enough detail to indicate whether the entire growth cycle was considered. Any idea of the legitimacy of the study?

Reads like a smear job.
I don't know how much I'd trust info coming from the Society of Chemical Industry.
All crop land releases N2O, not just rapeseed (canola).

in a reputable scientific journal.

*yawn*