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Book Review
Fuel from biomass
N. GOPAL RAJ
BIOFUELS FOR TRANSPORT — Global Potential and Implications for Sustainable Energy and Agriculture: Worldwatch Institute. Distributed by Viva Books Pvt. Ltd., Ansari Road, Daryaganj, New Delhi-110002. Rs. 1495.
When the International Energy Agency released its World Energy Outlook 2008 last November, it warned that “the sources of oil, the cost of producing it and the prices that consumers will have to pay for it are extremely uncertain.” It is not hard to see why countries around the world would prefer to pay their own farmers and local producers to turn plants into fuels that can be used in cars, trucks and other forms of transport rather than be held to ransom by t
he vagaries of the international oil market.
Starch and sugars that plants produce through photosynthesis can be converted into ethanol, which can then be blended with petrol. Likewise, plant oils, fatty material from algae and even used cooking oil can be turned into a form of diesel.
At a time when the accumulation of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and the global warming it produces is a matter of concern, biofuels are attractive for another reason as well. They are potentially “carbon-neutral”. In other words, burning these fuels need release only the carbon dioxide that the plants soaked up from the atmosphere.
It has, however, become increasingly clear that biofuels are not the panacea that they once appeared to be. Last year, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food went to the extent of accusing the U.S. and the E.U. of having taken a “criminal path” by using food crops to produce biofuels, which had contributed to an explosive rise in global food prices.
Implications
This book from the U.S.-based environmental think-tank, the Worldwatch Institute, provides a well-rounded look at the many complex issues surrounding biofuels.
The book is quite comprehensive. It has a useful primer on biofuels; takes a look at the important technologies and crops involved; analyses key economic, social and environment impacts; provides an overview of market introduction and technology strategies; examines biofuel policies; and ends with recommendations for decision-makers.
The book neither runs down biofuels nor sweeps issues of concern under the carpet. As the book points out, the potential for harnessing biomass energy is indeed very large. But it also carefully notes: “The large-scale cultivation and harvesting of photosynthetic energy brings with it a different set of challenges and concerns. While fossil fuels pose a greater threat to greenhouse gas concentrations, biomass fuels potentially pose a larger threat to wild ecosystems, soil quality, and water use. At the same time, should biofuels be cultivated carefully, they might also bring net ecological benefits.”
The book signposts many potential pitfalls that countries need to watch out for. It points out, for instance, that biofuels development “will not contribute to sustainable development in the absence of increasing energy efficiency.” Similarly, biofuel programmes can enrich farmers but, at their worst, might also “expedite the very mechanisation that is driving the world’s poorest farmers off their land into deeper poverty.”
The authors argue that “increases in the demand for, and price of, food crops have been a deliberate and fundamental motivation of biofuel programmes as governments aim to protect farmers from excessively low prices.” It goes on to suggest that “higher crop prices will not necessarily harm the poorest people.” However, last year’s food price increases should perhaps be seen as a warning that the trade-offs that biofuels can introduce between ensuring remunerative farm prices and threatening global food security need to be carefully scrutinised.
Impact on climate
The book quite rightly warns against uncritically believing that all biofuels are “green”. It points out that land-use changes associated with growing biofuels, choice of feedstock and how it is managed as well as the refining process employed are important factors in determining the overall climate impact of biofuels.
In September 2008 the Central Government approved a national policy for the development of biofuels in India. The policy aims at reaching 20 per cent blends of ethanol and biodiesel by 2017. One hopes that while promoting biofuels in the country, adequate thought goes into key issues such as the ones highlighted in this book.
As the book notes, “Biofuels have the potential to help meet many of the challenges that the global community faces today.” But alternatively, depending on the policies put in place, “a massive scale-up in the production and use of biofuels could increase the concentration of economic wealth, while speeding deforestation and biodiversity loss and possibly accelerating climate change.”
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