Ethanol may not ease global warming: U.N. - Reuters

[Eugene]

Ethanol may not ease global warming: U.N.
Mon Mar 5, 2007 9:42PM EST

By Andrea Welsh

BRASILIA (Reuters) - It's too soon to say whether ethanol will help slow global
warming, the head of the United Nations Environment Program said on Monday,
ahead of a meeting by the world's two biggest ethanol producers to discuss
building a world market in the biofuel.

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Environmentalists support the use of ethanol because the heat-trapping carbon
gases released when it burns are captured again by new plants. Carbon gases
from fossil fuels are almost certainly linked to a rise in global temperatures,
climate scientists have said.

But Steiner said building a global ethanol market won't necessarily lower the
amount of carbon gas released into the air unless there are proper norms for
biofuel production and innovations in making ethanol from tough cellulosic
materials like grasses and corn husks.

Researchers are studying termites to learn how they digest wood to make
sugar, a process that could help make corn ethanol more environmentally
friendly.

Currently, fertilizing and processing corn into ethanol uses almost as much
fossil fuel as it saves. Brazilian cane ethanol is far more efficient, but it
might lose that edge due to the expense and energy spent in being shipped
overseas in fuel-guzzling tankers.

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Full article: http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSN0543721820070306