Topic: Biofuel News - Nobel scientist in biofuel warning - The Press Association
A Nobel Prize-winning scientist has warned that switching from fossil fuels to biofuels could do the planet more harm than good. Prof Paul Crutzen calculated the global warming effects of the fertiliser needed to grow energy crops like biodiesel and bioethanol were much worse than has been estimated. He believes a larger proportion than thought of the nitrogen in fertilisers is converted into nitrous oxide, a potent greenhouse gas, New Scientist magazine reported. But Prof Crutzen and his colleagues calculated the true figure was closer to 3-5% - enough to negate the savings in carbon dioxide emissions made by switching from fossil fuels. They estimated that biodiesel made from rapeseed was the least efficient biofuel, potentially having a significantly greater warming effect than fossil fuels. Prof Crutzen, of the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Mainz, Germany, won the 1995 Nobel Prize for chemistry for his work on the threat to the ozone layer.
