Government funded, peer-reviewed study concludes biofuels worse than gasoline for the...

American Thinker ^ | April 21, 2014 | Thomas Lifson

[neverdem]

Government funded, peer-reviewed study concludes biofuels worse than gasoline for the environment

The $30 billion or so wasted each year on the federal government’s biofuels mandates and subsidies needs to end now. The program is a complete disaster, and now has been shown to harm the environment, something anti-warmist skeptics (aka, deniers) have warned about for many years.  Even the left wing UK Guardian reports via AP:

Biofuels made from the leftovers of harvested corn plants are worse than gasoline for global warming in the short term, a new study shows, challenging the Obama administration's conclusions that they are a much cleaner oil alternative and will help combat climate change.

A $500,000 study – paid for by the federal government and released Sunday in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Climate Change – concludes that biofuels made with corn residue release 7% more greenhouse gases in the early years compared with conventional gasoline.

While biofuels are better in the long run, the study says they won't meet a standard set in a 2007 energy law to qualify as renewable fuel.

The conclusions deal a blow to proponents of cellulosic biofuels, which have received more than a billion dollars in federal support but have struggled to meet volume targets mandated by law. About half of the initial market in cellulosics is expected to be derived from corn residue. (snip)

"I knew this research would be contentious," said Adam Liska, the lead author and an assistant professor of biological systems engineering at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. "I'm amazed it has not come out more solidly until now."

Actually, this analysis has been coming, even from warmist central at the UN. In Forbes, James Conca reports:

The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on...

[neverdem]

Lifson is the editor & publisher @ AT.

[SandRat]

The Enviro/Echol/Greenies are gonna hate this.

[boycott]

Iowa, being the first state to hold caucus or primary, has too much political influence to let research like that stand. I am sure they can get the presidential candidates to demand further research.

How did ethanol ever get dumped on us in the first place? Seems they would have figured out it was a loser before it got this far. The only reason it got this far was because of politician’s promises.

[SierraWasp]

FRAUD!!! Al Gore, Bill Clinton; B. Heussein Obama and all the GovernMental EnvironMental economic destroyers, EU/UN lovers and America haters are FRAUDS!!!

[BfloGuy]

I think the right is making too much of this report. It doesn't criticize ethanol production in general, just that part of production using the left-over stalks.

Now, I despise the ethanol program as much as the next guy, but this report doesn't address that. I wouldn't expect much to come from it.

Hope I'm wrong.

[reasonisfaith]

It seems to me the study shows biofuels do the opposite of what they were supposed to do.

Note this is a consistent outcome pertaining to all of leftist—that is, Democrat—programs.

[Sergio]

bkmk