Just as I suspected, Biofuels aren’t the panacea that everyone thought they would be. When you factor in the operations of clearing trees from the land and planting all those biofuels, you get an increase greenhouse gas emissions rather than reductions.

The destruction of natural ecosystems — whether rain forest in the tropics or grasslands in South America — not only releases greenhouse gases into the atmosphere when they are burned and plowed, but also deprives the planet of natural sponges to absorb carbon emissions. Cropland also absorbs far less carbon than the rain forests or even scrubland that it replaces. [via NYT]

The best way to help fight greenhouse gases, in my opinion, is to plant trees and lots of them.