KBS Professor Phil Robertson is part of a team of scientists who recently found an error in the way carbon is accounted for—an error that could hurt Michigan’s economy and environment.

From The Detroit News editorial piece written by Phil Robertson:

"Controlling carbon emissions to forestall long-term climate change is critical to Michigan's future. Our children and grandchildren will pay an increasingly expensive price for our unbridled use of fossil energy. Agriculture and tourism, hugely important to the state's economy, will be early losers because even small temperature increases will cause field crops to use more water, fruit trees to bud-break too early and the loss of prized cool-water fish, such as trout from Michigan waters.

Biofuels are one of several important options for reducing carbon emissions. But carbon credit legislation under consideration doesn't distinguish between different sources of biofuel carbon. This is a carbon accounting error that will hurt Michigan.

Failing to make the distinction between good and bad sources of biofuel damages the credibility of the emerging cellulosic biofuels industry. Without this distinction, the promise of biofuel's ability to reduce climate change won't be realized, and the backlash will be serious -- especially if we've already sacrificed many of our forests."

For a full copy of the editorial, which explains the distinction between good and bad sources of biofuels, click here.

KBS houses the main field site for the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center’s (GLBRC) sustainability research. KBS scientists investigate the economic viability and environmental sustainability of crops that have potential to be grown for cellulosic biofuels, such as ethanol.

Find out more about our GLBRC research here!