The Cost of Biofuels

A new study published in PNAS (8th February 2010) reveals that biofuel plantations in Brazil could accelerate deforestation, creating a carbon debt that would take 250 years to repay. This study by Lapola et al., uses a spatially explicit model to project land-use changes caused by caused by expansion of biofuels plantations in Brazil in 2020. These land use changes could offset the carbon savings from biofuels.