The hypocrisy of bio-fuels

A recent study by the Nobel laureate Paul Crutzen shows that the official estimates have ignored the contribution of nitrogen fertilisers. They generate a greenhouse gas - nitrous oxide - that is 296 times as powerful as CO2. These emissions alone ensure that ethanol from maize causes between 0.9 and 1.5 times as much warming as petrol, while rapeseed oil (the source of more than 80% of the world's biodiesel) generates 1-1.7 times the impact of diesel. This is before you account for the changes in land use.

And using bio-fuels mean that somewhere someone is going hungry. Stop using bio-fuels. Do it for the children.

The next time you hear an environmentalist say NO to fossil fuels, ask them about nuclear power. If they say NO to that too, then they are indeed a hypocrite because nuclear power does not emit any CO2 and could generate an enormous amount of electricity. When was the last time the U.S. built a new domestic nuclear power plant? A very long time ago. If you want clean energy, go nuclear, do it for the children.