Green or Grey?

With biofuels in the spotlight, not least because of high crude oil prices and rising demand, Alasdair Cameron takes a look at some of the issues surrounding energy crop production. On what scale can biofuels be produced? How great are the carbon benefits (if any)? And are there other environmental issues to take into account?

As many regions of the world gear up for large-scale biofuel,production as a way of cutting greenhouse gas emissions and reducing dependency on imported oil, one of the issues coming into the frame is the sustainability of biofuel production - how much will it actually reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs),what will be its impacts on wilderness and biodiversity, and how much land will be needed to produce significant quantities of fuel. In response to these questions, various bodies are attempting to draw up guidelines for sustainable biofuels production, while others are hoping that new technology will be able to increase yields and efficiencies. But how successful will these policies be, and are they simply dodging important issues of land availability and sustainability in modern farming?