U.N.: Biofuels Could Devastate Environment

World Agency Raises Possible Negative Impact Of Biofuels On Environment And Food Security

(AP)  The United Nations said Tuesday that biofuels like ethanol can greatly help reduce global warming and create jobs for the rural poor, but warned that the benefits may be offset by serious environmental problems and higher food prices for the hungry.

In its first major report on bioenergy, the U.N. tried to temper the enthusiasm over biofuels by raising the alarm about their potential negative impact. The report was issued just days after a climate conference in Bangkok said the world had both the money and technology to prevent the sharp rise in global temperatures blamed in part on greenhouse gas emissions.

Biofuels, which are made from corn, palm oil, sugar cane and other agricultural products, have been seen by many as a cleaner and cheaper way to meet the world's soaring energy needs than with greenhouse-gas emitting fossil fuels.

European leaders have decided that at least 10 percent of fuels will come from biofuels, like ethanol, by 2020, and the U.S. Congress is working on a proposal that would increase production of biofuels by seven times by 2022. With oil prices at record highs, biofuels have become an attractive alternative energy source for poor countries, some of which spend six times as much money importing oil than on health care.

But environmentalists have warned that the biofuel craze can do as much or more damage to the environment as dirty fossil fuels, a concern reflected throughout the report, which was released Tuesday in New York by U.N.-Energy, a consortium of 20 U.N. agencies and programs.

U.N.-Energy chairman Mats Karlsson said it only seemed natural to look to biofuels for energy since a quarter of the world's population has no access to power.

"What would be more interesting than to reflect on a source of energy that takes simply sunshine and water, and transforms it into power through photosynthesis?" he told a press conference in New York. "Well, when you reflect on it you find that there are many challenges."

The report said bioenergy represents an "extraordinary opportunity" to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. But it warned that "rapid growth in liquid biofuel production will make substantial demands on the world's land and water resources at a time when demand for both food and forest products is also rising rapidly."

Changes in the carbon content of soils and carbon stocks in forests and peat lands might offset some or all of the benefits of the greenhouse gas reductions, it said.

"Use of large-scale monocropping could lead to significant biodiversity loss, soil erosion and nutrient leaching," it said, adding that investments in bioenergy must be managed carefully, at national, regional and local levels to avoid new environmental and social problems "some of which could have irreversible consequences."

It noted that soaring palm oil demand has already led to the clearing of tropical forests in southeast Asia. Such clearings could result in emissions that were even higher than those caused by fossil fuels.

In addition, the diversion of land used to grow food for fuel will increase food prices for basic commodities, putting a strain on the poor. Already, there has been recent steep rises in maize and sugar prices, the report said.

[rf35]

ms38654ob,
You have a good point.

ozilot,
I like your SUV tax too.

Here%u2019s an idea: Also tax parents on a per child basis. For each child, a substantial tax increase that would go toward funding public schools. After two children, the family also forfeits all rights to any Federal money/assistance such as guaranteed student loans, Social Security, Medicare, etc. It will take drastic measures to get Americans to keep it in their pants (or at least wrap it up when it%u2019s out), but that is the only way to get America%u2019s attention: slap them in the wallet.

[brainworms1]

The real solution would be to outlaw any personal vehicle fueled by anything but muscle power. This would solve most problems faced by developed countries:
1. Obesity would disappear because people would be getting lots of exercise.
2. We wouldn't need to change corn into ethanol because tortillas would already be an excellent fuel source.
3. Existing freeways and highways would last centuries with only bicycles and rickshaws running down them and the term rush hour traffic would have no meaning.
4. People would live closer to work.
5. City density would naturally increase and suburbs would gradually heal back into open space.
6. As urban sprawl became suburban shrink , new plant life would absorb CO2 and the runaway greenhouse would stabilize.
7. Arabs could go back to riding camels and not bother attacking us because we want their oil.

Hey, it's gonna happen sooner or later anyway so why not plan for it? Why wait until they pry your SUV from your cold, dead fingers?

[alphaa10-2009]

The SugarCityCane website is a promising idea that already seems to deliver on some of its potential.

A floating agricultural acreage makes sense from a variety of standpoints, it (1) has all the srea it needs (up to a certain point, anyway), and (2) gets all the solar input it ever could need from its equatorial position.

The downsides-- despite what the website claims-- is (1) barge acreage is still much more expensive than land, and while positioning the complex is ideal for sunlight, (2) a large barge complex is unwieldy at best, subject to storms (a hurricane easily could overtake an ocean tug towing its flotilla of barges). (3) Once in place, economies of operation favor larger and larger complexes, eventually making them impossible to move about when needed. (4) Finally, as vast as the ocean might seem, your enterprise, as it grows, will encumber shipping lanes and introduce new national conflicts about use of coastal ocean areas.

[dlpracer]

I GUESS SINCE I WORK FOR A BIG OIL COMPANY
I SHOULD NOT BE SAYING THIS - (BUT)
WE HAVE OUR PEOPLE WORKING IN WASHINGTON WHO ARE WORKING AGAINST THE GOOD THAT BIOFUELS CAN DO TO HELP TRIM GAS AND OIL PRICES
THE COMPANY I WORK FOR DON'T WANT THE BOTTOM LINE TO SUFFER - EVEN WITH ALL THE EXCESS PROFIT WE ARE MAKING
IT'S LIKE LEGAL ROBBERY

Posted by tksk53 at 05:38 PM : May 08, 2007

-----------------

If you work for a big oil company, I'm the CEO, and you're fired for disclosing sensitive company secrets.

After all, big oil is terrified of government-subsidized farmers, growing crops that are at the whims, ebbs and flows of the weather.

Compared to our business model of pumping an unlimited supply of crude out of the ground, we feel very threatened....YEAH RIGHT!!

Try again.

[dlpracer]

I GUESS SINCE I WORK FOR A BIG OIL COMPANY
I SHOULD NOT BE SAYING THIS - (BUT)
WE HAVE OUR PEOPLE WORKING IN WASHINGTON WHO ARE WORKING AGAINST THE GOOD THAT BIOFUELS CAN DO TO HELP TRIM GAS AND OIL PRICES
THE COMPANY I WORK FOR DON'T WANT THE BOTTOM LINE TO SUFFER - EVEN WITH ALL THE EXCESS PROFIT WE ARE MAKING
IT'S LIKE LEGAL ROBBERY

Posted by tksk53 at 05:38 PM : May 08, 2007

------------

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha har-de-har ha ha ha...YOU work for a big oil company?

Even they have hiring requirements and they want people that have at least a room-temperature IQ...therefore it is clear, because you put your posting in all CAPS, that unless you work for Trailer Trash Oil LLC, YOU are full of ***.

LOL.

Try again

[djermano1]

I HOPE YOU PEOPLE WAKE UP! SEE HOW TO GROW ETHANOL ON THE OCEAN. WE DO "NOT" NEED THE LAND TO GROW ETHANOL. GOVERNOR SCHWARTZNEGGER OF CALIFORNIA KNOWS ABOUT THIS.

http://www.sugarcitycane.com

My name Dominic Jermano
CEO:Charcoal Ethanol Organization/Chairman of Energy Oceanography

[inhalednot]

I see this as the market adjusting itself over a number of years. Yes there will be shortages of corn for food for aperiod of time unitl more corn is grown and yes the price will increase also. Biofuels is a part a much broader approach we need take. Wind power for generating electricity

Posted by Houser123

Ever notice the Liberal's smug attitude toward people when it comes to the environment.

Too bad about there not being enough food. To bad things are so expensive. Wind powert but not in my backyard.

I guess Al Gores Heated pool and 30,000 electric bill make a little more sense now.

[vancouverboo]

Too bad the Catholic Church has made the only long-term solution (drastic birth control) totally impossible politically.


Alas.

[vancouverboo]

Too bad the Catholic Church (and the born again Christians) have made the only long-term solution (drastic birth control)totally impossible.
"Be fruitful and Multiply" - spoken when there were only 2 human beings on the planet, and a command given only to one man, long dead - keeps getting thrown in our faces as the justification for breeding the planet into submission.

Alas.

[alphaa10-2009]

Ethanol and biofuels programs are better than oil, in some respects, but worse in others. Biofuel, in general, is a poor general solution to a long-term problem because it is a devastating load on the ecosystem.

For example, the Mississippi Delta regularly erupts in algal blooms which destroy entire regions of gulf floor below the delta. The algae problem could not exist, were it not for mass agricultural combines like ADM (and others) pumping so much fertilizer and pesticides into the soil and rivers.

Ask ADM, and it will claim there is no significant tradeoff or penalty. Ask fishermen in the delta, and they will show you the damage. Meanwhile, ADM is ecstatic about the boost in grain production and grain prices.

Another problem-- when biofuels are burned, there is still the massive accumultation of free CO2-- the very heart of the greenhouse gas problem.