Mounting criticism on biofuels
Fuels from vegetable oil, sugar, corn and a number of other crops and plants, collectively known as biofuels, are taking flak. There are doubts about their carbon savings, and concern over their impact on food supplies, prices and the land needed to grow them.
On 21 January 2008, the UK House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) called for a moratorium on efforts to increase their use.
Despite their ability to offset greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from road transport, "at present most biofuels have a detrimental impact on the environment overall", said the EAC’s chairman Tim Yeo.
The EAC’s conclusions reflect those made by the Commission’s own scientists, who have questioned the environmental sustainability of growing crops for energy use. Environmental NGOs have strongly criticised the EU’s 10% goal, calling for tougher safeguards or even an outright moratorium on production.
The EU’s position
However, the EU confirmed it will force oil companies to mix biofuel into petrol and diesel.
EU Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs said that the Commission "strongly disagrees" with the EAC’s conclusion. Biofuels are "delivering significant greenhouse gas reductions" compared to oil, Piebalgs said in a statement, which lists a number of arguments to support the EU’s policy.
EU Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel told the German food industry that the policy is here to stay, arguing that the goals are "attainable" and "necessary if we’re serious about energy security and climate change".
On 23 January 2008, the Commission unveiled its proposal on biofuels as part of a wider climate and energy ’package’, The text includes the following criteria:
Land use - old forest with no or limited human intervention cannot be used for biofuels cultivation, nor can ’highly biodiverse grasslands’, or lands with a ’high carbon stock’ like wetlands or ’pristine peatlands’;
CO2 impact - the overall greenhouse gas (GHG) savings from biofuels production must be at least 35% in order for cultivation to be considered sustainable.
The Commission will put forward sustainability criteria for energy use of biomass by the end of 2010.
Reaction
NGOs and the scientific community to provide robust sustainability criteria to ensure that the 10% biofuels target does not lead to ecosystem loss, deforestation, population displacement, food price increases and even higher CO2 output.
New Scientist called on the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to "determine whether biofuels are good or bad".
The issue splits even the green campaigners: Friends of the Earth said this week’s European move was a disaster; WWF welcomed it.
For further information
European Union: Biofuels pages
European Environment Agency: Getting the most out of Europe’s bioenergy potential
EPHA related articles
EU Commission launches Green Paper on climate change
EPHA and HEAL conference on Climate Change and Public Health
