Background: As discussed in George Monbiot's book "Heat", Biofuels are not the solution to climate change (replacing hydrocarbon based fuels) because:
- We don't have enough arable space to grow enough plants (Palm Oil in this discussion) to make a dent on our current fuel consumption. And in trying to get the space, deforestation is occurring as demand grows;
- The taking of land to grow plants for biofuels mean that there is less food being grown to feed the planet.
The following article is "good news" in that these limitations look like they are being understood and followed.
Also see this Blog story on the expected extinction of Oran-utan's in the wild due to Palm Oil plantions.
A leading German utility has abandoned plans to convert a British power station to run on palm oil, in a blow to the promotion of biofuels in Europe.
The decision by RWE npower to scrap the project at its Littlebrook plant in Dartford, Kent, which was seen as a test case for palm oil as an alternative energy source, comes after it was unable to secure sufficient supplies without risking damage to tropical rainforest. The move highlights the mounting alarm over the scramble in South-East Asia to bring more land into palm oil cultivation.
See the article for more.
Article by Carl Mortished, International Business Editor for UK's Times Online.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment