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Nobel Prize Winner Criticizes Bio-Fuels
In Madrid on September 12, the Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry 1988, Hartmut
Michel, criticized the development and use of bio-fuels, in an interview
with a Spanish Newspaper, El Pais.
The scientist, who determined the three-dimensional structure of a photosynthetic
reaction center, assured that fuels made from a vegetable origin are not a
good option to fight global warming.
Michel estimates that bicarbonates do not cut back on emissions of CO2 but
instead encourage deforestation of the Amazon Rain Forest and in other parts
of the world.
He proposes to abolish the guideline set by the European Union that states
5.75% of all transportation that uses energy based on fossil fuels should be
substituted by bio-fuels by the year 2010.
He acknowledges the importance of switching to a renewable energy source, but
warned that bio-fuels are not neutral in the emission of CO2, saying that half
of their energy content comes from a fossil source.
To produce ethanol, you need to invest enormous quantities of fossil based
energy, for example, fertilizer, transportation, and alcohol distilling. In
the end you end up emitting more CO2 that you do using traditional gasoline.
The bio-fuels you can produce per unit of surface space in one year, contains
less than .4% of solar energy that would be received in the same amount of
space over the same period of time.
To meet the electricity demand in Germany using bio-fuels, you would have to
dedicate 100% of the surface space of the entire country to cultivate energy
producing crops, stated the scientist.
In comparison, the photovoltaicas cellules are between 50 to 100 times more
efficient and require less land.
Bio-fuels promote destruction of the tropical forest in Indonesia , Malaysia
, some areas of Africa and in Brazil , where everyday they are planting more
soy where there once was forest. The cutting and burning of the rain forest
releases a colossal amount of carbon dioxide.
The efficiency of converting bio-mass into bio-fuels ranges between .15%-.3%
while, that of photovoltaicas cellules already have an efficiency ranging between
15% and 20%, the German Nobel Prize winner pointed out. He proposes the use
of solar energy instead of biofuels.
Article translated from Prensa Latina: Critica Premio Nobel desarrollo de los biocombustibles
To see article in Spanish please click here PrensaLatina
