Biofuels
Many
governments around the world are rushing to develop a biofuel
industry, planning to substitute plant based oils for some of their
annual petrol and diesel consumption. They claim that this will cut
greenhouse gas emissions and reduce their dependence on imported oil.
Unfortunately, they have played down the many problems likely to
arise as a result of the widespread planting of crops for use as
biofuels. Huge areas of land will be needed to grow biofuel crops.
The cheapest crops are those grown in the tropics such as palm oil
and soya and any expansion in the area used to cultivate these crops
is likely to result in widespread deforestation. The European
Commission has admitted that these problems will arise if their
target of having 10% of all European transport fuels being
biofuels
by 2010. Read more...
Malaysian oil palm plantations stretch along the motorway almost all the way from Kuala Lumpur to the East coast. (Photo by Kicki Nylén)
In addition some biofuel crops could lead to climate change impacts up to ten times worse than just using petrol or diesel. i.e. more greenhouse gases are emitted during their production, transportation and use than are saved.
We
are campaigning against the widespread use of biofuels for transport.
The only biofuels for use in transport which do not appear to have
serious drawbacks appear to be waste cooking oil and biogas produced
from slurry and other biological waste. This is being widely used in
Sweden and buses and even a train can now operate on biogas.
There is a recent report on the situation in Yorkshire and Humberside based on a meeting called "The status of biofuels in Yorkshire and the Humber".
There is a
new
Friends of the Earth report about palm oil expansion called
"Losing Ground":
"The
unsustainable expansion of Indonesia’s palm oil industry is leaving
many indigenous communities without land, water or adequate
livelihoods. Previously self-sufficient communities find
themselves in
debt or struggling to afford education and food. Traditional
customs
and culture are being damaged alongside Indonesia’s forests and
wildlife." Read a summary
or the
full report.
26 January - 2 February 2008 was the national week of action on biofuels. Our group staged a protest outside Tesco's at Tadcaster Road. Read our leaflet
What can I do?
Please write to your MP and ask them not to support the widespread use of biofuels. Ask them to support other ways of cutting emissions from transport. Adopting policies to reduce traffic and promote walking, cycling and public transport would be better. Also cutting average car emissions to 120g/kilometer is technically possible.
For
more information see the Biofuelwatch website at
http://www.biofuelwatch.org.uk/
Or the ecologist special report on biofuels at
http://www.theecologist.org/archive_detail.asp?content_id=838
