Biofuels might increase global warming

Nobel chemistry prize winner Paul Crutzen, the chap pictured here on the left, argues in a new article that biofuels may be more harmful to the environment than people imagine.

The reason is that apparently these fuels give off a much higher proportion of nitrous oxide (N2O) — a greenhouse gas that is significantly more damaging to the environment than its more common cousin carbon dioxide (CO2).

This is just the latest salvo in a run of concerns about biofuels, including rising food prices and water usage, among other things. Is a backlash about to occur? Or will the farmers lobby out gun the concerns?