Biofuel optimism waning?

LONDON, Nov. 30 (UPI) -- Executives at supermajor Royal Dutch Shell are pulling back on their optimism for certain biofuels while others look to batteries as a way to cut emissions.

Biofuels made from corn and other sources were lauded as a way to cut greenhouse gas emissions. A link to rising food prices, however, and a net increase in greenhouse gas emissions, in part because of deforestation, are leading researchers to search for alternatives.

Cellulosic ethanol, which is made from plant waste, or biofuels from algae were seen as an alternative source for green energy, but Shell is losing its optimism, reports The Financial Times.

Peter Voser, the head of Shell, said that while the next generation of green energy was promising, it might be "quite a number of years" before technology becomes commercially viable.

Voser said it could be a decade before algae and wood chips are bringing energy to consumers. The International Energy Agency, meanwhile, points to electric vehicles or hybrids, not biofuels, as the likely answer to the emissions question.