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BIOFUELS, BIODIVERSITY AND ENERGY SECURITY: What are the environmental and
social impacts?
Jeffrey A. McNeelyChief Scientist
IUCN-The International for Conservation of NaturePresented to
SCOPE Conference on BiofuelsGummersbach, Germany
22 September 2008
Converting food crops into biofuel “is a crime against humanity.”
Jean Zeigler, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, October 2007
This Ferrari F430 runs on biofuel
Domestic use of roundwoodfor fuel:• 98% in Lebanon• 66% in Jordan• 44% in Turkey
Nepal: 90% of energy comes from fuelwood
Globally, 2 billion people rely on traditional biomass fuels.
“Can you believe it? Since we installed our wood-burning stove we’ve spent next to nothing on heating oil.”
Alberta’s tar sands contain billions of barrels of oil, but current yield is only 1 million barrels per day and requires 3-10 barrels of water for each barrel of oil. Maximum possible production: 3 million barrels per day
3030
Biofuel yields of selected first generation ethanol and biodiesel feedstock (l not c)
0
1,000
2,000
3,000
4,000
5,000
6,000
7,000
Barley Wheat Corn Sugar beet Sugarcane
Soybean Castorbeans
Sunflowerseed
Rapeseed Jatropha Palm oil
Lit
ers
pe
r H
ec
tare
S o u rc e : F u lto n e t a l.
Ethanol Feedstock
Biodiesel Feedstock
Some market information… Biofuel market development during
the last 5 years: now ~3% global gasoline consumption
Biofuels may share ~10% of world fuel use for transport by 2025
Less than 10% of global biofuels production is internationally traded
But important expansion in global trade: key consumers (EU, US, and Japan) will not have the domestic capacity to meet internal demand
Dangers of Jatropha
Highly invasiveUseless for food or fodderRequires water and fertilizerRequires processing facilities
2000-2005, Indonesia planted 1.6 million haof oil palm, with US$110 million in governmentsubsidies. 9.8 million ha of forest were lost.
3838
Forest growing on peat soils in
Indonesia are burned to make
way for oil palm plantations
Releasing more carbon thanwill ever be stored by the palms
In Brazil, In Brazil, sugarcanesugarcanefields lose up to 30fields lose up to 30tons of topsoil pertons of topsoil perha per yearha per year
Burning of sugarcane fields beforeBurning of sugarcane fields beforeharvesting emits carbonharvesting emits carbon
Sugarcane produces the most Sugarcane produces the most ethanol per hectareethanol per hectare
One million jobs, mostly low-paying
How can smallholders work with large processors?
The cost of producing Beer in Germany is increasing, as farmers turn from growing barley to growing biofuels
The European Commissioner for Agriculture cancelled subsidies for set-asides in 2008, because of demand for biofuels. The EU has mandated that biofuel must provide 5.6% of transport energy by 2010.
Policy may have gotten ahead of science
Colorado’s Solix Biofuels harvests algae with a field of bioreactors that take a kind of painter’s dropcloth to bubble CO through its system
“Third generation” biofuels?
Marine algae: 10 times the oil content of oil palm(Botryococcus braunii produce 75%of their dry weight as hydrocarbons)
Potential Reductions in GHG Emissions by Feedstock Type
On climate, it’s also clear what is the best feedstock
Some key complexities of bioenergy remain
Diverse components: Feedstock supply, conversion technology, and energy use
Diverse economic, social, and environmental factors
Diverse scales, from local to international Diverse objectives, from energy autonomy
at the local level to serving international markets
What should be the basis for the necessary trade-offs?
Three main systems of biomass production for energy
System 1. Small-holder production for local use
System 2. Small-holder production with commerical processing
System 3. Medium- and large-scale commercial production
The US has 113 ethanol distilleries and 77 more are under construction. Potential capacity: Over 44 billion liters (about 5% of US fuel consumption)
“Business Advisory: 16 Ethanol Plants Filing Bankruptcy, Many More to Come” DTN 20 June 2008.
Gain clear understanding of economic, environmental and social impacts of bioenergy production & trade before making policy
Be guided by risk assessment of comparative advantages, land availability and food security impacts
Encourage investment on better environmental technologies and practices for all renewable sources of energy
Do not expect biomass to be a main source of energy – conservation often remains the most cost-effective option
Use overall land use plans as the basis for planning bioenergy production at the landscape scale
Some recommendations