In an article published in Science on 27 January 2006, Californian researchers discredited previous studies claiming that making bioethanol consumes more energy than it creates. The UC Berkeley team of Alexander Farrell looked at the critical studies of David Pimentel and Tad Patzek and found that the "net energy balance" of ethanol is positive.
This is good news for the EU's plans to raise the use of biofuels in European energy consumption to 5.75% by 2010. The share of biofuels in the EU was around 1% in 2004. On 8 February, the Commission will present new plans to "speed up the pace toward a wider use of biofuels".
The EU's interest in biofuels and biomass is driven by the reforms of the Common Agricultural Policy as well as its Kyoto commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In December 2005, the commission presented a new biomass action plan.
The Berkeley study is less optimistic about the climate change benefits of ethanol. Using bioethanol as a petrol substitute for cars would only reduce carbon dioxide emissions by a marginal amount. Other studies have also indicated that there are environmental dangers in the use of ethanol produced from corn, such as increased use of fertiliser and water plus dangers of soil erosion.
