Corn-based ethanol as an alternative to fossil fuels for greenhouse gas reduction got another bad rap this week. “It need not apply” for funding from the unprecedented $500 million BP-University of California, Berkeley, bioenergy center Dan Kammen, co-director of Berkeley’s Institute for the Environment said during a California Air Resources Board January 29 briefing. Ethanol made from rain-fed corn that uses little fertilizer, according to Kammen, might pass the low carbon emissions test the center applies to the production cycle of alternative fuels being developed to slash greenhouse gases in and outside California. The Air Board was told January 17 by another U.C. researcher that ethanol can be expected to add more global warming gases in the years ahead as the percentage of the alternative fuel in gasoline climbs. This research, however, is focused on transportation fuel. BP and UC Berkeley signed a controversial deal that allows the oil company to conduct private research at the university. There are numerous concerns that the center will become a BP for-profit subsidiary. The university insists that the center’s mission is to develop alternative energy sources and reduce the carbon impact of energy consumption. Editors’ note: For a more detailed version of the ethanol story, please see our sister publication E=MC2 – Energy Meets Climate Challenge – energymeetsclimate.com.
