Bio-fuels will cut carbon emissions and save the environment, by blending crops such as sugar and corn with petrol. But the price to be paid are escalating food prices and logging of rainforests – oil for the reach instead of food for the poor.
How green are bio-fuels? We need to answer some important questions before we decide biofuels are the panacea for everything – to which extent will more biofuel production and consumption harm the environment? Will more biofuel production clash with food production needs both in Europe and in less developing countries? Which impact will greater biofuel consumption have on transport fuel prices? And which types of biofuel are the most energy efficient and environmentally friendly?
In theory the agriculture sector in the EU is set to benefit from a growth in biofuel production. Development of biofuels is regarded as an important part of both cohesion policy and rural development policy. But first-generation biofuels are produced almost entirely from crops that can also be used for food purposes. Concerns have been expressed that, as global biofuel demand grows, the availability of food at affordable prices could be endangered in developing countries and even in the wealthiest ones. The same goes for the land use. Information on the percentage of cropland that would be needed with today’s technology is unclear, there are estimates reaching from 10-15% to 14-27%. The next problem is deforestation, which is responsible for around a quarter of the world’s carbon emissions, as land is cleared to grow crops and the clearing method is just simple burning the forests down.
We should think about where and how biofuel feedstocks are produced, to ensure the integrity of high conservation value forests, grasslands and habitats and the needs of the biodiversity, using agricultural and forestry management techniques guaranteeing improvement of soil and water resources. Certification and public awareness are part of the answer. Secondly, the greenhouse gas emissions – biofuels must deliver benefits over conventional biofuels with regard to GHG and carbon life-cycle. Energy crops used as biofuels must be selected on the basis of the most efficient carbon and energy balance, from production through to processing and use. To achieve ambitious targets set for biofuels, Members States should develop national and regional strategies on reducing consumption of fuels for transport, through new transport strategies, increase in energy efficiency and the expansion and use of renewable energies.
And lastly, research is the most important factor. It should be focused on the development of the next generation biofuels, on the consequences of an expansion of the biofuel market both inside and outside the EU, on managing and minimising negative impacts and on evaluation of different types of biofuels and renewables in terms of their agronomic and environmental impacts and GHG emission benefits.
With the United States experiencing a policy-driven boom in corn-based-ethanol and the EU emphasizing biodiesel from tropical palm oil, soybeans and other oilseeds, isn’t there a very real likelihood of over-investment in inefficient first generation biofuels? I see a real danger that this over-investment could very likely lead to diversion of resources away from research into second generation biofuels (biomass) and an ultimate dependency of the biofuels sector on long-running government support programmes.