EU rethinks biofuel strategy

The debate over whether biofuels are environmental heroes or villains is hotting up. And it's not just because palm oil plantations are one of the biggest drivers of tropical deforestation. 

Stavros Dimas, the EU's environment commissioner, has admitted that that biofuels - energy sources made from plants - may not be the answer to reducing green house gas emissions. 

There has been a great rush to produce biofuels over the last few years as it was believed that they were the carbon neutral solution to reliance on fossil fuels.  The EU even set a target of making 10 per cent of Europe's road fuels from plants by 2020 and consumption of biofuels is rocketing as a result.  But the environment commissioner said that the EU target to boost biofuel production risked having some unexpected harmful effects.

He was responding to a number of recent studies which have raised concerns about the environmental impact of biofuels, like palm oil and ethanol (made from corn).  Originally it was believed that the loss of carbon into the atmosphere caused by burning biofuels could be offset by the absorption of carbon dioxide when they were growing.  But this approach did not take into account the whole life cycle of the crop and in particular, the huge loss of natural forest - one of the richest stores of carbon in the world - cleared to make way for these plantations.

Burning palm oil and corn biofuels is also contributing to shortages and huge price increases for cooking oil. We may think of vegetable oils as a small part of the weekly shop. In much of the world, however, such oils are an important source of calories and are often one of the biggest cash outlays for poor families. For an eye-opening report on what this means for communities from Borneo to Mumbai and Manaus read this  New York Times article .

So what's the answer? Cool Earth has been criticised for protecting rainforest from being turned into agricultural land at a time when demand for palm oil is at an all-time high. We make no apologies. New palm plantations often choose to clear rainforest not because there is a land shortage but because it is cheaper than properly managing existing farmland. Clearing rainforest - the richest carbon store we have - to plant "carbon neutral" palm plantations mean biofuels can be as damaging as fossil fuels. A sustainable approach is needed that recognises all the inputs in biofuel manufacturing. Curb fuel consumption and don't just look for another scare resource to plunder.

Bookmark this page: