The EU target of ensuring 10% of petrol and diesel comes from renewable sources by 2020 is not an effective way to curb carbon emissions, researchers say.A team of UK-based scientists suggested that reforestation and habitat protection was a better option.
I find this to be extraordinarily maddening, because we're not talking about a question of conflicting priorities or principles. It's a rather simple question of effectiveness. Now, if you believe that global warming isn't a big problem, or that it's just too expensive to deal with, you are stupid and wrong.
But if you are going to take the position that greenhouse gases need to be reduced, you should be in favor of the most effective possible method of doing so. In this case, the EU clearly believes greenhouse gases ought be reduced, but failed to ask people who would know if their solution was any good. So why don't they try to figure out the best way to do it? Why didn't they ask the scientists who did this study about reforestation? I'd really like to know.
3 Kommentare:
I don't really know if this is quite the travesty that you make it out to be. I mean it isn't really any big news that a forest would take in more carbon than a field with a bio fuel crop planted in it. Does this mean that we should re-forest all the fields in Europe?
I think the point that is missed is that biofuels (which are carbon neutral by the way) also have a second purpose- they replace fossil fuels. Any step in the direction towards reducing gas and diesel consumption is a good one because it is less carbon put into the air period and we can ween our way off gas with better technology ie. hybrid cars. Also with biodiesels the technology will just get better and more efficient with time. Even the study pointed out that second generation biofuels offered much better possibilities for co2 mitigation. That is only going to happen if we invest in biofuels now.
Carbon sinks are important but I don't know if artificially creating them out of crop land is good policy. What this article reminds me of is that we need to do more to stop carbon sinks from being cut down. ie. The Brazilian rain forest.
By the way Chris, I am really glad you started posting again. It is so funny that I found this bbecause I was just clicking around the old bookmarks on my families computer and then I saw your post said 2007. wierd huh?
This is great though. I am so bored at home. everyone is gone now and I'm basically just waiting to go to Austria. I'm gonna read the rest of your posts tomorrow and probably comment some more.
I hope law school is treating you ok too. How's the appt?
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