I may have been a bit harsh in Part I: biofuel production, when done
wisely and especially when it involves using waste products such as
wood waste, can indeed be a vital part of the mix of technologies
which seem to offer the best way out of the current dilema our
biosphere faces, but most biofuel production is now revealed to be a
PART of the problem, rather than part of the solution.
Studies Deem Biofuels a Greenhouse Threat
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Published: February 8, 2008
(Page 2 of 2)
International environmental groups, including the United Nations,
responded cautiously to the studies, saying that biofuels could still
be useful. "We don't want a total public backlash that would prevent
us from getting the potential benefits," said Nicholas Nuttall,
spokesman for the United National Energy Program, who said the United
Nations had recently created a new panel to study the evidence.
Skip to next paragraph
World View: Greg Winter and Libby Rosenthal discuss the downsides of
biofuels. (mp3)
"There was an unfortunate effort to dress up biofuels as the silver
bullet of climate change," he said. "We fully believe that if biofuels
are to be part of the solution rather than part of the problem, there
urgently needs to be better sustainability criterion."
The European Union has set a target that countries use 5.75 percent
biofuel for transport by the end of 2008. Proposals in the United
States energy package would require that 15 percent of all transport
fuels be made from biofuel by 2022. To reach these goals, biofuels
production is heavily subsidized at many levels on both continents,
supporting a burgeoning global industry.
Syngenta, the Swiss agricultural giant, announced Thursday that its
annual profits had risen 75 percent in the last year, in part because
of rising demand for biofuels.
Industry groups, like the Renewable Fuels Association, immediately
attacked the new studies as "simplistic,
into context."
"While it is important to analyze the climate change consequences of
differing energy strategies, we must all remember where we are today,
how world demand for liquid fuels is growing, and what the realistic
alternatives are to meet those growing demands," said Bob Dineen, the
group's director, in a statement following the Science reports' release.
"Biofuels like ethanol are the only tool readily available that can
begin to address the challenges of energy security and environmental
protection," he said.
The European Biodiesel Board says that biodiesel reduces greenhouse
gasses by 50 to 95 percent compared to conventional fuel, and has
other advantages as well, like providing new income for farmers and
energy security for Europe in the face of rising global oil prices and
shrinking supply.
But the papers published Thursday suggested that, if land use is taken
into account, biofuels may not provide all the benefits once anticipated.
Dr. Searchinger said the only possible exception he could see for now
was sugar cane grown in Brazil, which take relatively little energy to
grow and is readily refined into fuel. He added that governments
should quickly turn their attention to developing biofuels that did
not require cropping, such as those from agricultural waste products.
"This land use problem is not just a secondary effect — it was often
just a footnote in prior papers,". "It is major. The comparison with
fossil fuels is going to be adverse for virtually all biofuels on
cropland."
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