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VK2AAB > FUEL 20.02.08 00:49l 101 Lines 4639 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 57682_VK2AAB
Read: GUEST
Subj: Biofuels fail to be the solution
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Sent: 080219/2138Z @:VK2AAB.#SYD.NSW.AUS.OC #:57682 [SYDNEY] FBB7.00i
From: VK2AAB@VK2AAB.#SYD.NSW.AUS.OC
To : FUEL@WW
Hello Everyone,
There is a very significant rethink going on about the
suitability of biofuels such as biodiesal and ethanol.
It is coming down to "If I drive my car, who will go hungry ?"
73 Barry VK2AAB
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Biofuels spark fears of land grabbing, 'peak food'
18 Feb 2008 17:05:00 GMT
Written by: Megan Rowling
Thousands of farmers and trade unionists protested against the
rising price of tortillas - partly caused by growing U.S. ethanol
demand - at a march in Mexico City, January 2007.
Not so long ago, biofuels were being hailed as the answer to the
world's fossil fuel addiction. These days, the media is full of
warnings about the potential harm of growing crops for fuel
instead of food.
Britain's Independent newspaper reports that African scientists
and activists want a moratorium on new biofuels projects because
they're taking over millions of acres of the continent's best
farmland.
http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/sociology/pdf/Beck-
LivingintheWorldRiskSociety-Feb2006.pdf
"We need to protect food security, forests, water, land rights,
farmers and indigenous peoples from the aggressive march of
agrofuel developments," reads the call for a moratorium issued by
the African Biodiversity Network at a meeting in South Africa
last week.
African governments have jumped on the biofuels bandwagon hoping
for new exports, jobs and energy security, says the paper. "The
reality is the forced removal of small farmers, rising food costs
and scant benefits for local populations," it argues.
Nigerian environmentalist Nnimmo Bassey describes private
companies' accumulation of large areas of agricultural land as "a
flashback to colonial plantations".
International bank Goldman Sachs predicts that the amount of land
given over to biofuels is likely to rise from around 50 million
hectares in 2007 to close to 120 million by 2015.
Besides the political and ethical implications of this, there are
clear signals that growing demand for biofuels will help keep
food prices high in the coming years. In a briefing issued last
week, the Food and Agriculture Organisation said that around 12
percent of the world's maize is being used to produce biofuels
(mainly ethanol).
http://www.fao.org/docrep/010/ah881e/ah881e04.htm
Due to soaring international cereal prices and freight rates, it
warned that the cereal import bill for low-income countries is
expected to rise by 35 percent for the second consecutive year,
with an even higher increase anticipated for Africa.
'PEAK FOOD'
In an article based on a presentation by Goldman Sachs, the Daily
Telegraph newspaper argues that the way crops can be switched
between food and fuel has created a new problem as the world
seeks a replacement for limited oil and gas reserves.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xm
l=/money/2008/02/07/cnoil107.xml
"Corn can be used for ethanol in cars and power plants, for
plastics, as well as in baking tortillas. Natural gas can be made
into fertiliser for food output. "Peak Oil" is morphing into
"Peak Food"," says the paper, warning that vulnerable parts of
the world face the risk of famine in the next three years as
rising energy costs cause a food crunch.
While that may seem alarmist, food is certainly becoming less
affordable from West Africa to South Asia, where Pakistan is
introducing ration cards allowing lower-income citizens to buy
flour at subsidised prices.
To make matters worse, a recent study published in the journal
Science warned that food-based biofuels can actually hurt the
environment if produced on land that was formerly grassland, rain
forest or savanna - in some cases increasing the amount of
climate-warming carbon dioxide that goes into the atmosphere.
In response, Britain's Royal Society argued that biofuels can
play a role in cutting greenhouse gas emissions, depending on how
crops are grown and converted, and how the fuel is used.
"Given that biofuels are already entering global markets, it will
be vital to apply carbon certification and sustainability
criteria to the assessment of biofuels to promote those that are
good for people and the environment," said Professor John
Pickett, who chaired a recent Royal Society study on sustainable
biofuels.
Painting biofuels as an environmental and political baddie may be
premature. But if policymakers don't act to stop the worst
scenarios becoming reality, at least they won't be able to say
they weren't warned.
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