Frequently Asked Questions
Why are bio-fuels beneficial?
The carbon emitted from combustion of fossil fuels was last free in the Earth's atmosphere as carbon dioxide millions of years ago. In those millions of years the atmosphere has maintained a balance without that carbon. Releasing it today by burning fossil fuels creates an imbalance and this is why we have the greenhouse effect.
With bio-fuels the plants used to produce the fuel were living only months or at the most a few years before they are used as fuel. The carbon they contain and then release was part of the cycle so recently that they represent part of the balanced cycle and thus cannot upset it.
If the use of bio-fuels was to increase sufficiently the Earth's natural 'sequestration' processes (sequestration is the removal of the carbon from the atmosphere) would reduce the carbon load.
Why are bio-fuels beneficial?
The carbon emitted from combustion of fossil fuels was last free in the Earth's atmosphere as carbon dioxide millions of years ago. In those millions of years the atmosphere has maintained a balance without that carbon. Releasing it today by burning fossil fuels creates an imbalance and this is why we have the greenhouse effect.
With bio-fuels the plants used to produce the fuel were living only months or at the most a few years before they are used as fuel. The carbon they contain and then release was part of the cycle so recently that they represent part of the balanced cycle and thus cannot upset it.
If the use of bio-fuels was to increase sufficiently the Earth's natural 'sequestration' processes (sequestration is the removal of the carbon from the atmosphere) would reduce the carbon load.