Hot air on biofuel

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: is included then none of the currently commercial biofuels can be termed as “green energy”. The initial spurt of CO2 emissions from conversion of rested grasslands and the loss of sinks will cause an increase in GHG emissions, exacerbate climate change concerns and leave behind huge carbon debts that the resulting green fuels will take years to repay. Land use changes result in a carbon debt of some 17 years even with the most benign Brazilian Ethanol while palm oil displacing tropical rain forest leaves the planet indebted for 840 years.

The US corn based ethanol has been estimated to yield a carbon debt of 48 years. Independent studies in UK have estimated that biofuels could release 2 to 9 times the carbon dioxide released by equivalent fossil based energy over the next 30 years.

So stark are the findings that the world’s 10 ten leading ecologists and environmentalists have written to president George Bush to stop the ethanol gravy train.

Similarly the EU has imposed a process that requires certification that no land-use change was involved in imported biofuels. The EU has banned production of biofuels from use of virgin habitats, ancient grasslands and forests. Sir Gordon Brown’s advisers appeared to have taken note of the recent findings about the negative impact of first generation biofuels. On their recent visit to India, they confirmed that UK is no longer pursuing the 10% biofuel target of 2020.

Production and consumption of bio-energy in a localised and decentralised manner—consistent with age-old patterns is indeed sustainable. However, it is far from clear what adaptive measures are needed for large-scale commercialisation of these fuels so as to make commercial energy plantations sustainable.

Data on overall energy balances and the potential impact on global & local eco-systems, socio-economic settings, local lifestyles, livelihoods of indigenous people, migration, land-holdings, food security, water security etc. need to be established and authenticated. Research is also required to establish viable germ plasms & genotypes for bio-energy. The current research gaps are indeed immense.

(To be concluded)