Alternative fuels may boost pollution:
report
Tue Nov 13, 4:25 PM ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) - Some alternative vehicle fuels such as liquid
coal can cause more harmful greenhouse gas emissions than polluters
such as petrol or diesel, scientists warned in a US study released
Tuesday.
"Liquid coal, for example, can produce 80 percent more global
warming pollution than gasoline," said the Union of Concerned
Scientists, a non-profit environmental group, in a statement
introducing its study.
Liquid coal is viewed as a potential replacement to the oil on
which countries rely heavily to fuel vehicles.
"Corn ethanol, conversely, could be either more polluting or less
than gasoline depending on how the corn is grown and the ethanol is
produced," the report said.
The analysis was based on replacing a fifth of all gasoline
consumed in the United States with alternative fuels by 2030.
If most of these alternatives consist of liquid coal, the change
could pump pollution into the atmosphere equivalent to 34 million
more cars on the road. Favoring cleaner "advanced biofuels," on the
other hand, could cut harmful gases by a similar amount.
The cleanest alternative, the report said, is cellulosic ethanol,
made from grass or wood chips -- it could cut emissions by more
than 85 percent.
"We need to wean ourselves off oil, but we should replace it with
the cleanest alternatives possible," said the author of the study,
Patricia Monahan, in the report. "Let's not trade one bad habit for
another."
Souce: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071113/sc_afp/usenergyenvironment
