Biofuels

Biofuels - derived from food crops including corn, sugar cane, palm oil and oilseed rape - are one of the few new ideas with the potential to replace oil as a fuel for and are seen as a way to cut greenhouse gases.
But a report produced today by the Royal Society http://royalsociety.org/ warned that biofuels risk failing to deliver significant reductions in transport emissions and could even be environmentally damaging. Read the rest here.
The impact of biofuels
Biofuels have a number of benefits, which include being carbon neutral (that is, the carbon they emit in the atmosphere when burned is offset by the carbon that plants absorb from the atmosphere while growing), renewable (fresh supplies can be grown as needed), secure in their supply and able to be cultivated in many different environments.
But they have been increasingly criticised recently for their environmental impacts, food security and land use implications.
The EU is to re-examine its policy on biofuels after admitting that the environmental and social impact of producing the crops may be greater than originally thought. It is said the environmental impact and the effect on poor countries of producing biofuel production would be greater than the scientists. This is a great topic which is becoming more controversial by the day for adv higher. Read more here.