World Leaders Ride in Style to Copenhagen Climate Talks

The host of the world’s most important conference on climate change has no room for error. On Dec. 7-18, Copenhagen will rub elbows with the leaders in climate change as it plays host to the one of the most important conferences of the year.

The Danish foreign ministry is taking every green step possible, especially when it comes to transportation. Since picking up Gordon Brown or Barack Obama on a two-seated bicycle probably isn’t the most logical (or safe) route to go, Denmark has developed a more reasonable solution: limos powered by plant waste.

World leaders at the 2009 Copenhagen Climate Talks will be escorted to their destinations in an innovative new ride. Photo: One-blue-marble.com

The trend of using crop waste for fuel continues to grow, and Copenhagen will capitalize on these advancements. Also called “biofuel,” these next-generation fuels, which aren’t yet in commercial production, may be the solution to our increasing energy consumption.

The processing of non-food feedstocks into biofuels is gaining momentum because it produces minimal greenhouse gas emissions, is less costly to process, has minimal land, water and food crop demands and has the potential to create much needed new markets in the biofuel industry.

Some new techniques for producing biofuels include the production of cellulosic ethanol made from inedible and wasted parts of feedstocks, like plant stems, leaves and stalks; wood residues such as straw, sawdust and papermill scraps and other agricultural waste.