Is biofuel saving or hurting the environment?

Many countries have taken actions to protect the environment by using biofuels as an alternative energy source. Indeed, there is a huge potential to improve the environment when derived from the right resource, such as the agricultural wastes. 

Recent studies have shown that many biofuels are not produced with the right resource and it consequently harms the environment. As stated in the New York Time, “not only is native vegetation, including tropical rain forests, being chopped down in places to plant the crops, but fossil fuels, like diesel for tractors, are often used to farm the crops. They also demand nitrogen fertilizer made largely with natural gas and consume huge amounts of water.” 

The European Union is proposing a new law to ban importation of biofuels derived from certain kinds of land, such as forests, wetlands, or grasslands. The primary effect will be on palm oils and some Latin American imports. Additionally, biofuels in Europe must meet a certain level of greenhouse gas savings.  

Europe set a target of 5.75 percent of the transport fuels consumed by 2010 be from biofuels. If the law is approved and the present trends continue, the goal will not be achieved.