Bioenergy could do more harm than good

News from the RSPB site

Leading environmental groups are making an urgent plea to government not to downgrade other environmental concerns in promoting bioenergy to help tackle climate change.

In a new report, Bioenergy in the UK, they say crops such as willow, oil-seed rape and miscanthus (elephant grass), grown for energy generation, could be sown over large areas of the UK, forming monocultures that provide little sustenance for wildlife.

It warns that without proper management, cultivation of crops for fuel, electricity and heat could cause further declines of farmland wildlife, damage the character of landscapes, harm historic and archaeological sites and damage soil and water quality.

And it calls for:

* A UK-wide assessment of bioenergy's potential and drawbacks
* Certification of all bioenergy schemes to ensure producers prove cuts to greenhouse gas emissions
* Planning policies that guard against unsuitable bioenergy developments and changes in land use.


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Thanks for that Robert :)