Biofuels could boost global warming, finds study
Date: 24.9.2007
Growing and burning many **biofuels** may actually raise rather than lower **greenhouse gas emissions**, a new study led by Nobel prize-winning chemist Paul Crutzen has shown. The findings come in the wake of a recent OECD report, which warned nations not to rush headlong into growing energy crops because they cause food shortages and damage biodiversity.
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Crutzen and colleagues have calculated that growing some of the most commonly used **biofuel crops** releases around twice the amount of the potent greenhouse gas **nitrous oxide** (N2O) than previously thought - wiping out any benefits from not using fossil fuels and, worse, probably contributing to **global warming**. The work appears in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics and is currently subject to open review.
"Royal Society of Chemistry":[ http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/News/2007/September/21090701.asp]
