Homegrown is Best

When it comes to biofuels, such as ethanol, countries are best served by producing their own fuel from local sources, a senior scientist at a Greenpeace research lab in England stated. As reported by Reuters in this article, clean-burning ethanol can generate pollution during production if fertilizers and pesticides are used to grow the corn, sugar, or other crops on which the fuel is based. Fossil fuels burned during manufacturing processes and shipment also contribute to pollution. Just as the hydrogen for fuel cells can be produced in clean processes (using renewable energy sources) or dirty processes (using nuclear power or fossil fuels), biofuels are only truly clean when they are produced cleanly.