Thursday, March 6, 2008
Saturday, February 9, 2008
At What Cost, Biofuels?
Today's blog is an excerpt of a NYT article from Feb. 8.
February 8
New York Times
...These studies for the first time take a detailed, comprehensive look at the emissions effects of the huge amount of natural land that is being converted to cropland globally to support biofuels development.
The destruction of natural ecosystems — whether rain forest in the tropics or grasslands in South America — not only releases greenhouse gases into the atmosphere when they are burned and plowed, but also deprives the planet of natural sponges to absorb carbon emissions. Cropland also absorbs far less carbon than the rain forests or even scrubland that it replaces.
Together the two studies offer sweeping conclusions: It does not matter if it is rain forest or scrubland that is cleared, the greenhouse gas contribution is significant. More important, they discovered that, taken globally, the production of almost all biofuels resulted, directly or indirectly, intentionally or not, in new lands being cleared, either for food or fuel.
“When you take this into account, most of the biofuel that people are using or planning to use would probably increase greenhouse gasses substantially,” said Timothy Searchinger, lead author of one of the studies and a researcher in environment and economics at Princeton University. “Previously there’s been an accounting error: land use change has been left out of prior analysis.”
These plant-based fuels were originally billed as better than fossil fuels because the carbon released when they were burned was balanced by the carbon absorbed when the plants grew. But even that equation proved overly simplistic because the process of turning plants into fuels causes its own emissions — for refining and transport, for example.
The clearance of grassland releases 93 times the amount of greenhouse gas that would be saved by the fuel made annually on that land, said Joseph Fargione, lead author of the second paper, and a scientist at the Nature Conservancy. “So for the next 93 years you’re making climate change worse, just at the time when we need to be bringing down carbon emissions.”
The Intergovernment Panel on Climate Change has said that the world has to reverse the increase of greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 to avert disastrous environment consequences.
In the wake of the new studies, a group of 10 of the United States’s most eminent ecologists and environmental biologists today sent a letter to President Bush and the speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, urging a reform of biofuels policies. “We write to call your attention to recent research indicating that many anticipated biofuels will actually exacerbate global warming,” the letter said.
The European Union and a number of European countries have recently tried to address the land use issue with proposals stipulating that imported biofuels cannot come from land that was previously rain forest.
But even with such restrictions in place, Dr. Searchinger’s study shows, the purchase of biofuels in Europe and the United States leads indirectly to the destruction of natural habitats far afield.
For instance, if vegetable oil prices go up globally, as they have because of increased demand for biofuel crops, more new land is inevitably cleared as farmers in developing countries try to get in on the profits. So crops from old plantations go to Europe for biofuels, while new fields are cleared to feed people at home.
Likewise, Dr. Fargione said that the dedication of so much cropland in the United States to growing corn for bioethanol had caused indirect land use changes far away. Previously, Midwestern farmers had alternated corn with soy in their fields, one year to the next. Now many grow only corn, meaning that soy has to be grown elsewhere.
Increasingly, that elsewhere, Dr. Fargione said, is Brazil, on land that was previously forest or savanna. “Brazilian farmers are planting more of the world’s soybeans — and they’re deforesting the Amazon to do it,” he said.
February 8
New York Times
...These studies for the first time take a detailed, comprehensive look at the emissions effects of the huge amount of natural land that is being converted to cropland globally to support biofuels development.
The destruction of natural ecosystems — whether rain forest in the tropics or grasslands in South America — not only releases greenhouse gases into the atmosphere when they are burned and plowed, but also deprives the planet of natural sponges to absorb carbon emissions. Cropland also absorbs far less carbon than the rain forests or even scrubland that it replaces.
Together the two studies offer sweeping conclusions: It does not matter if it is rain forest or scrubland that is cleared, the greenhouse gas contribution is significant. More important, they discovered that, taken globally, the production of almost all biofuels resulted, directly or indirectly, intentionally or not, in new lands being cleared, either for food or fuel.
“When you take this into account, most of the biofuel that people are using or planning to use would probably increase greenhouse gasses substantially,” said Timothy Searchinger, lead author of one of the studies and a researcher in environment and economics at Princeton University. “Previously there’s been an accounting error: land use change has been left out of prior analysis.”
These plant-based fuels were originally billed as better than fossil fuels because the carbon released when they were burned was balanced by the carbon absorbed when the plants grew. But even that equation proved overly simplistic because the process of turning plants into fuels causes its own emissions — for refining and transport, for example.
The clearance of grassland releases 93 times the amount of greenhouse gas that would be saved by the fuel made annually on that land, said Joseph Fargione, lead author of the second paper, and a scientist at the Nature Conservancy. “So for the next 93 years you’re making climate change worse, just at the time when we need to be bringing down carbon emissions.”
The Intergovernment Panel on Climate Change has said that the world has to reverse the increase of greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 to avert disastrous environment consequences.
In the wake of the new studies, a group of 10 of the United States’s most eminent ecologists and environmental biologists today sent a letter to President Bush and the speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, urging a reform of biofuels policies. “We write to call your attention to recent research indicating that many anticipated biofuels will actually exacerbate global warming,” the letter said.
The European Union and a number of European countries have recently tried to address the land use issue with proposals stipulating that imported biofuels cannot come from land that was previously rain forest.
But even with such restrictions in place, Dr. Searchinger’s study shows, the purchase of biofuels in Europe and the United States leads indirectly to the destruction of natural habitats far afield.
For instance, if vegetable oil prices go up globally, as they have because of increased demand for biofuel crops, more new land is inevitably cleared as farmers in developing countries try to get in on the profits. So crops from old plantations go to Europe for biofuels, while new fields are cleared to feed people at home.
Likewise, Dr. Fargione said that the dedication of so much cropland in the United States to growing corn for bioethanol had caused indirect land use changes far away. Previously, Midwestern farmers had alternated corn with soy in their fields, one year to the next. Now many grow only corn, meaning that soy has to be grown elsewhere.
Increasingly, that elsewhere, Dr. Fargione said, is Brazil, on land that was previously forest or savanna. “Brazilian farmers are planting more of the world’s soybeans — and they’re deforesting the Amazon to do it,” he said.
Supporting new uses for "old" items is a great way to support eco-friendly living! This darling bed, from ecoetsy member anniessweatshop features fleece made from recycled plastic! How great is that? Keeping Fido warm and cozy while using "full circle" materials is a great step in protecting our planet.Thank you anniesssweatshop!
Done with that sweater yet? Not 
when it can be upcycled into a darling
hat like this one from luvlug a
member of the Trashion Etsy team!
Plastic bags are petroleum products.
Besides taking over 1000 years
to disintegrate and turn into
toxic chemicals, their manufacture
means more oil demand which increases
the production of harmful biofuels and more
and more carbon pollution.
REUSABLE BAGS are such an
eco-friendly alternative: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=9431883 Fashion Green T Bags gives you so many interesting alternatives to plastic!
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Are Biofuels the answer?
Bio fuels have been in the news a lot lately. Ethanol production is increasing along with the cost of all kinds of foods we purchase at the grocery stores due to the higher prices of corn. Farmers are abandoning crops they used to grow in favor of the new "cash cow" crop.
As corn production increases and prices rise, we ask ourselves if, in the end, the offset in overall carbon savings makes it all worthwhile. After all, emissions from ethanol are about the same as those from oil but the plants used to produce ethanol absorb carbon dioxide as they grow. SOOO one would surmise that in the end, ethanol would still be the better choice due to the corn having absorbed carbon dioxide before the fuel produced.
A study being released today in the journal Science explores whether we actually are benefiting from this "Eco fuel". In order to grow the quantity of corn for ethanol and palm oil for biodiesel, land has to be cleared by the farmers which actually creates a "carbon debt" that can take "decades or centuries" to repay.
"I was surprised that with so many of the crops, it takes so long before you break even [on carbon emissions]," said study co-author David Tilman of the University of Minnesota in St. Paul. The university and the nonprofit group the Nature Conservancy conducted the study.
"I don't think we can afford to make biofuels if we have to wait 50 years for any benefit," he added.
In addition to actually creating a carbon deficit, corn ethanol could spawn deforestation, deplete soil nutrients, and undermine food security. (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/01/080108-switchgrass-ethanol.html)
Of course, the first choice of fuel reduction must be a reduction in consumption across the board. While high prices and drains on family budget for food and energy are making some decreases necessary and not necessarily voluntary, another way is to make the most from what we already have!
EcoEtsy and Trashion are two teams at Etsy.com who strive to make great things old new again.
Check out the stores in Etsy:
Blue Bingo Earrings
museglass
Dot the Spotted Dog by: Ruby Reusable
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
yesterday continued
Today Dear Abby continued her column concerning the responses she received to the question, "What do you think is society's greatest problem?"
The response in this column that was very meaningful for me in an ecological sort of way, was ignorance. "ignorance of the fact that we are faced with choices every day and we can act on them for better or worse. We are ignorant of our own empowerment when it comes to the environment how we treat others, our society's history that at times leads us down the same path toward war and the destruction of others. It's ignorance of the plight of our neighbors, our community, our country and around the world There is woeful ignorance of our government, that it serves the people, that its prime mission is the safety and well-being of the people, and our own civil rights.
Merlin of King Arthur's round table said, "The curse of man is that he forgets." If only we won't forget that we are loving beings, capable of great love beyond measure, if only we wouldnot ignore so much but remember just a little. -Maurice in Albuquerque, N.M."
Very poignant in so many ways. Let us not be ignorant of our impact on society environmentally. Let us be good stewards of our earth with its limited resources but infinite capacity to care for us all if we make a point to not be ignorant.
The response in this column that was very meaningful for me in an ecological sort of way, was ignorance. "ignorance of the fact that we are faced with choices every day and we can act on them for better or worse. We are ignorant of our own empowerment when it comes to the environment how we treat others, our society's history that at times leads us down the same path toward war and the destruction of others. It's ignorance of the plight of our neighbors, our community, our country and around the world There is woeful ignorance of our government, that it serves the people, that its prime mission is the safety and well-being of the people, and our own civil rights.
Merlin of King Arthur's round table said, "The curse of man is that he forgets." If only we won't forget that we are loving beings, capable of great love beyond measure, if only we wouldnot ignore so much but remember just a little. -Maurice in Albuquerque, N.M."
Very poignant in so many ways. Let us not be ignorant of our impact on society environmentally. Let us be good stewards of our earth with its limited resources but infinite capacity to care for us all if we make a point to not be ignorant.
Consider the alternatives: recycled clothing totes and more: www.fashiongreentbags.etsy.com
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Aloe Wreath Fairy Necklace
Shameless Commerce Department:
Here's a link to my latest happy creation, perfect for Valentine's Day for that special someone (yourself!).
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Plastic Bags?
Please consider the following from the World Watch Institute:
A Necessary Eyesore?
Plastic shopping bags are among the most ubiquitous consumer items on Earth. Their light weight, low cost, and water resistance make them so convenient for carrying groceries, clothing, and other routine purchases that it's hard to imagine life without them. Weighing just a few grams and averaging a few millimeters in thickness, plastic bags might seem thoroughly innocuous—were it not for the sheer number produced. Factories around the world churned out a whopping 4-5 trillion of them in 2002, ranging from large trash bags to thick shopping totes to flimsy grocery sacks.
Compared with paper bags, producing plastic ones uses less energy and water and generates less air pollution and solid waste. Plastic bags also take up less space in a landfill. But many of these bags never make it to landfills; instead, they go airborne after they are discarded—getting caught in fences, trees, even the throats of birds, and clogging gutters, sewers, and waterways. To avoid these impacts, the best alternative is to carry and re-use your own durable cloth bags.
Plastic bags start as crude oil, natural gas, or other petrochemical derivatives, which are transformed into chains of hydrogen and carbon molecules known as polymers or polymer resin. After being heated, shaped, and cooled, the plastic is ready to be flattened, sealed, punched, or printed on.
The first plastic “baggies” for bread, sandwiches, fruits, and vegetables were introduced in the United States in 1957. Plastic trash bags started appearing in homes and along curbsides around the world by the late 1960s.
North America and Western Europe account for nearly 80 percent of plastic bag use—though the bags are increasingly common in developing countries as well.
A quarter of the plastic bags used in wealthy nations are now produced in Asia.
Each year, Americans throw away some 100 billion polyethylene plastic bags. (Only 0.6 percent of plastic bags are recycled.)
The Irish have been known to call the ever-present bags their “national flag”; South Africans have dubbed them the “national flower.”
The "true beauty" of these bags is that these bags, if not recycled, will last for 1000 years OR more! 100 BILLION BAGS PER YEAR!
OPT FOR a stylish alternative to plastic! www.fashiongreentbags.etsy.com
Monday, January 28, 2008
So exciting!
I'm so excited to be a part of the beginning of this great team! Kent is a very interesting college town with such diversity and variety for a town of its size!
My focus for this blog will be mostly devoted to environmental concerns. Right now, my business is recyling and reusing! I'm making a variety of items from barely used clothing that serve everyday needs (especially reusable grocery/market totes).
Please come visit my store and see what I've got! www.fashiongreentbags.etsy.com
Thank you Ilene for this blog!
My focus for this blog will be mostly devoted to environmental concerns. Right now, my business is recyling and reusing! I'm making a variety of items from barely used clothing that serve everyday needs (especially reusable grocery/market totes).
Please come visit my store and see what I've got! www.fashiongreentbags.etsy.com
Thank you Ilene for this blog!
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