Il n’y a pas si longtemps une marque célèbre de produit laitiers (aller, on t’aide un peut : ça commence par ‘DA’ et ça se termine par ‘NONE’) commercialisait un yahourt nomé ‘Bio’. Bien entendu, il ne fallut pas longtemps aux associations de consomateurs pour mettre en évidence que ce yahourt n’était en rien issue de l’agriculture Bio, et bien au contraire..

Non satisfaite de cette leçon l’industrie Agro-alimentaire semble cette fois-ci s’être alliée aux géants de la petro-chimie pour, une fois encore, prendre les consomateurs pour des cons avec un tout nouveau produit : Le Bio-Carburant.

Aussi efficace que le petrol, propre, renouvelable, les bio-carburants ont tout pour plaire, et constituent une parfaite alternatives aux energies fossiles. Toutefois, les Bio-Carburants n’ont rien de ‘Bio’, et les modes de productions causent, sur les regions productrices, de sévères impacts sur le tissue social, l’environnement et la santé, a tel point que certains spécialistes qualifient cette industrie comme la plus destructrice de la planete..

L’article qui va suivre est rédigé dans la langue de shakespeare, mais mérite un effort. Il décrit les différents modes de productions, les impacts, et propose quelques alternatives..

Biofuel, One more step forward ..in the wrong direction

The increasing use of individual automobiles and their associated oil consumption is one of the main causes of global warming. Annual emissions from EU transport are expected to grow by 77 million tonnes between 2005 and 2020 – three times as much as from any other sector of the EU economy.

In this context, the use of biofuels would appear to be a positive alternative.

good news

There are two types of biofuel, both of which are produced from crops which are also major food crops :

• Bioethanol used as a substitute for petrol is usually made from sugarbeet, corn, wheat , maize and sugar cane.
• Biodiesel is produced from plant oils sush as rapeseed, Soybeans, palm

Most cars can burn petrol blended with up to 10% bioethanol without any modifications to the engine. Today’s diesels can run on 100% biodiesel and, with conversion, on untreated vegetable oil.

Biofuels do not reduce the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The combustion of biofuels produce carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. Biofuels are said “carbon neutral” because the carbon emited is extracted from the atmosphere by plants when they grow (assuming that every cutted plants are replaced). That is why most studies agree with the idea of using biodiesel instead of petroleum diesel could reduce the CO2 emissions by 70%

good news, isn’t it?
so why some people call biofuel “the most destructive crop on earth” ?

Increase of greenhouse gases

Well, Biofuels are not actually carbon neutral as claimed :

Fossil fuels are used at every stage of the process, from growing corn with petroleum-based fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides to oil to run tractors, fuel used in the distillation process to turn corn into ethanol and fuel for transporting the ethanol to blending facilities by truck.

Fertilisers alone account for about 50% of the total energy used in farming. A study by Cornell University (US) estimated that it takes 1.7 litres of fossil fuel to produce 1 litre of ethanol.

Rising food prices

Also, the space needed for biofuel production is far vaster than what we think :

It has been calculated that if every American drove an ethanol-powered vehicle, the entire land area of the US would have to be given over to maize production for ethanol.

The corn required to fill fill an SUV tank with bioethanol just once could feed one person for an entire year.

In what has been describe ‘a modern day gold rush’, 30% of the US corn crop will be allocated to ethanol production this year. Corn prices has risen more than 85% since the last year, causing an across-the-board increase in food prices.

Deforestation and destruction of the bio-diversity

Agricultural products specifically grown for use as biofuels are produced in the United States, Europe, Brazil and South-East Asia.

Although presented as an opportunity for Southern economies, evidence suggests that monoculture crops for biofuel lead to increased destruction of biodiversity and further erosion of food security, with serious impacts on water, soil, and regional climate patterns.

In order to serve the biofuel business, the governments of the Southern countries are building dams, waterways, bridges and highways with the consequent negative impacts on the environment.

Biodiesel crops are grown in south east asia, where the anciant rainforest is commonly cleared to make plantations

Indonesia has already established some six million hactares of oil palm plantation and plans a further 20 million A recent friend of the earth report found that between 1985 and 2000, oil palm plantations were responsible for an estimate 87% of deforestation in malesia. As a result, 90% of the orang-utan’s habitat has been destroyed, treatening extinction within 20 years.

Monoculture plantations are one of the main causes of the destruction of the rainforest in Argentina, of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil and Bolivia and of the Mata Atlântica in Brazil and Paraguay

Private companies in Brazil are planning to launch genetically modified varieties of sugar cane on the market in the year 2010. What they do in reality is to change some of the trees characteristics to improve the profitability of the businesses involved. As a result, Biodiversity will be further destroyed in biological deserts containing trees engineered to be insect resistant, flowerless, fruitless and seedless; the soil will be destroyed at a faster rate through higher biomass extraction, intensive mechanization and increased agrochemical use.

health impacts

At the same time, the expansion of soybean crops is affecting the health of Southern populations, where the levels of cancer and other diseases associated with agro-toxic chemicals used on these monoculture plantations are increasing day by day

Agribusiness giant Archer Daniels Midlands (ADM, one of the largest US producer of ethanol) has been ranked at tenth worst corporate air polluter. The company, which cleared $1 billion in profits last year, operates coal-fired plants to process ethanol, and its Iowa ethanol plant has been ranked the 26th largest emiter of carcinogenic compounds in the US.

ADM also has a leading position in the European market for oil seed-derived biodiesel.

A big business

Both Oil and Agribusiness companies are involved. As we already know their deep respect for the environment, human and animal rights, don’t expect driving an ethically powered car..

Shell is one of the world’s largest biofuels distributor (3 billion liters of biofuel in 2005),

ADM (Agribusiness giant), is one of the largest US producer of ethanol,

Monsanto (American biotechnology and agrochemical giant) is a major suppliers of corn varieties for the bioethanol industry (2.8 Billion Gallons annually)

ArborGen (the world’s biggest GM tree company) develops varieties of trees that have been genetically engineered for the production of bio-ethalol.

British sugar last year announced a collaboration with BP and DuPont to produce Biobutanol,

Total signed a “Memorandum of Understanding” with Neste Oil (Finnish oil company) to produce a new generation biodiesel made of vegetable oils and animal greases.

Most of these companies actively supports genetic improvement programs in Universities.

what you can do

The campaign group Corporate Europe Observatory has co-pupublished an Open Letter urging the EU to halt its plan to aggressively promote the use of biofuels. This would result in a massive increase in import of biofuels from countries in the south, The Open Letter and information on how to sign on is available at : www.corporateeurope.org/ Open_Letter_EU_biofuels

Drivers looking for a truly green alternative should seek out small producers using sustainable feedstocks. If you live in the UK, check out www.purebiodiesel.co.uk and www.bio-power.co.uk

It is also possible to make his own biodiesel from waste oil, such as cooking oil (far greater ruduction of CO2 emissions than virgin oil) Ready-made biodiesel kit to make your own fuel are available at: www.biofuelssolutions.co.uk

Go electric! Electric cars are often criticised for their lack of autonomy. But keep in mind most models have an autonomy of 80 to 100 km while the average journey in an urban environment is always under 40 km.

Hybrids vehicules sound like a good idea. They are powered by a combination of petrol or diesel and electricity. However, at the time being, The best diesels for CO2 emissions perform as well as, or better than Hybrids models.

People travelling short distance can also choose to ride a bike or use public transports.

Ultimately, it is not just the fuel that need to change, it’s the lifestyle that make use of it.

sources

• Wikipedia
• Ethical consumer (EC105)
• World Rainforest Movement : Biofuels informations
• guardian.co.uk
  
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