This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
In "Enviro ignorance" (Forum, April 30), Ray Ridge stated that "Algae diesel is at best 'carbon neutral,' and oil shale produced without carbon dioxide emissions, too, is 'carbon neutral.'"
If Ridge had done his research he would have discovered that no fossil fuel is carbon neutral, since the meaning of the term is to leave the atmosphere's net carbon content the same as it was before we burned anything. No fossil fuel meets this standard, regardless of how clean it is processed.
Robert Brossard
Salt Lake City