However, biofuels - made by producing ethanol, an alcohol fuel
made from maize, sugar cane, or other plant matter - may be a penny wise but
pound foolish way of doing so.
Consider the following:
- The grain required to fill the petrol tank of a Range Rover with ethanol
is sufficient to feed one person per year. Assuming the petrol tank is
refilled every two weeks, the amount of grain required would feed a hungry
African village for a year
- Much of the fuel that Europeans use will be imported from Brazil, where
the Amazon is being burned to plant more sugar and soybeans, and Southeast
Asia, where oil palm plantations are destroying the rainforest habitat of
orangutans and many other species. Species are dying for our driving
If ethanol is imported from the US, it will likely
come from maize, which uses fossil fuels at every stage in the production
process, from cultivation using fertilisers and tractors to processing and
transportation. Growing maize appears to use 30% more energy than the
finished fuel produces, and leaves eroded soils and polluted waters behind
- Meeting the 5.75% target would require, according to one authoritative
study, a quarter of the EU's arable land
- Using ethanol rather than petrol reduces total emissions of carbon
dioxide by only about 13% because of the pollution caused by the production
process, and because ethanol gets only about 70% of the mileage of petrol
- Food prices are already increasing. With just 10% of the world's sugar
harvest being converted to ethanol, the price of sugar has doubled; the
price of palm oil has increased 15% over the past year, with a further 25%
gain expected next year.
Little wonder that many
are calling biofuels "deforestation diesel", the opposite of the
environmentally friendly fuel that all are seeking.
With so much farmland already taking the form of monoculture,
with all that implies for wildlife, do we really want to create more
diversity-stripped desert?
Others are worried about the impacts of biofuels on food
prices, which will affect especially the poor who already spend a large
proportion of their income on food.
Biotech boost
So what is to be done? The first step is to increase our
understanding of how nature works to produce energy.
Amazingly, scientists do not yet have a full understanding of
the workings of photosynthesis, the process by which plants use solar energy
to absorb carbon dioxide and build carbohydrates.
Biotechnology, its reputation sullied by public protests over
GM foods, may make important contributions. According to the science journal
Nature, recombinant technology is already available that could enhance ethanol
yield, reduce environmental damage from feedstock, and improve bioprocessing
efficiency at the refinery.
The Swiss biotech firm Syngenta is developing a genetically
engineered maize that can help convert itself into ethanol by growing a
particular enzyme.
Others are designing trees that have less lignin, the
strength-giving substance that enables them to stand upright, but makes it
more difficult to convert the tree's cellulose into ethanol.
Some environmentalists are worried that these altered trees
will cross-breed with wild trees, resulting in a drooping forest rather than
one that stands tall and produces useful timber and wildlife habitat.
In the longer run, biotech promises to help convert wood
chips, farm wastes, and willow trees into bioethanol more cheaply and cleanly,
thereby helping meet energy needs while also improving its public image.
Public stake
But that is not nearly enough; bioenergy is too important to
be left in the hands of the private sector.
Many of the social and environmental benefits of bioenergy are
not priced in the market, so the public sector needs to step in to ensure
these benefits are delivered.
An easy immediate step would be to mandate improved fuel
efficiency for all forms of transport, beginning with the private automobile.
A 20% increase in fuel-efficiency standards is feasible using current
technology, and would save far more energy than Europe's biomass could
produce.
Governments also need to provide leadership in the form of
economic incentives to minimise competition between food and fuel crops, and
ensure that water, high-quality agricultural land, and biodiversity are not
sacrificed on the altar of our convenience.
Calculations of energy return on investment need to include
environmental impacts on soil, water, climate change, and ecosystem services.
The bottom line is that biofuels can contribute to energy and
environmental goals only as part of an overall strategy that includes energy
conservation, a diversity of sustainable energy sources, greater efficiency in
production and transport, and careful management of ethanol production.
Jeffrey A McNeely is chief scientist of IUCN, the World
Conservation Union, based in Switzerland
The Green Room is a series of opinion articles on
environmental topics running weekly on the BBC News website