Review finds biofuels may be an energy sink instead of an energy source

A new review of the literature by SPPI and CO2 Science finds biofuel production to be inefficient and "may actually be an energy sink, instead of an energy source, relative to the global total primary energy supply for many years or decades."

This may explain why the EU energy ministers voted yesterday to limit production of biofuels made from food crops, since they "stoke inflation & do more environmental harm than good." 

For the Full Report in PDF Form, please click here.

[Illustrations, footnotes and references available in PDF version]

How efficient is it to produce energy from biofuels-is it more, less, or about the same as from traditional fossil fuels? This mini review summarizes what several scientists have learned when investigating this topic.

Clearly, energy from biofuels is not as efficient as some have made it out to be. 

New technology may actually be an energy sink, instead of an energy source, relative to the global total primary energy supply for many years or decades.

The development of biomass energy technologies in scale sufficient to be a significant source of energy may produce or exacerbate water shortages around the globe and be limited by the availability of fresh water.