Yet another bio-fuel turns out be an environmental nightmare. See:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/31/business/worldbusiness/31biofuel.html?pagewanted=1&ei=5070&en=f15ff4f804f7d47a&ex=1170997200
QUOTES:
"AMSTERDAM, Jan. 25 Just a few years ago,
politicians and environmental groups in the
Netherlands were thrilled by the early and rapid
adoption of sustainable energy, achieved in
part by coaxing electrical plants to use biofuel
in particular, palm oil from Southeast Asia.
But last year, when scientists studied practices
at palm plantations in Indonesia and Malaysia,
this green fairy tale began to look more like an environmental nightmare.
Rising demand for palm oil in Europe brought
about the clearing of huge tracts of Southeast
Asian rainforest and the overuse of chemical fertilizer there.
Worse still, the scientists said, space for the
expanding palm plantations was often created by
draining and burning peatland, which sent huge
amounts of carbon emissions into the atmosphere. . . ."
- Jed
