Biofuels: Political Folly, Economic Disaster, Environmental Catastrophe By Ian R Thorpe

Picture Source: Wikimedia Commons http://upload.wikimedia.or /wikipedia/commons/!/!"/#etta$Biodiesel.%p

Just before Christmas 2013, environmentalist Bjorn Limborg lambasted the European Union E U! for de"iding to "ontinue #ith #hat he "alled $the most #asteful green programme of our time%$ Limborg #as referring to the biofuels program #hi"h "osts billions of pounds annuall& and a""ording to the best estimates is responsible for at least 30 million people going hungr& ever& &ear% B& failing to agree to pla"e a "ap on the use of biofuels #ithin the E U, the Coun"il of 'inisters has given a false respe"tabilit& to an industr& that is bad for both ta(pa&ers and environment is it supposed to prote"t% )he biofuel stor& is a perfe"t e(ample of good intentions and the prostitution of s"ien"e "ombining to a"hieve the opposite of #hat #as intended and a perfe"t e(ample of ho# s"ientists inabilit& to fo"us on more than one thing leads then time

and again into ma*ing idioti" mista*es su"h as reallo"ating land needed for food produ"tion to gro#ing "rops for a fossil fuel substitute that a"tuall& re+uires more traditional fuel to pro"ess the "rop into a useable produ"t than #e #ould gain in energ& from burning it% ,urthermore, it demonstrates perfe"tl& ho# po#erful, pseudo-green vested interests Big .reen! "an pressure government into pursuing bad poli"ies long after the s"ientifi" and e"onomi" "ases for them have "ollapsed% ,or &ears .reens have advo"ated biofuels as a #a& to "ombat global #arming, "laiming the& #ould emit mu"h less C/2 than fossil alternatives% 0s plants soa* up C/2 #hile gro#ing, the subse+uent "ombustion simpl& releases the C/2 ba"* into the air, resulting in 1ero net emissions% 2t is a measure of the almost infinite idio"& of s"ientists that the& managed to totall& overloo* the "arbon footprints of gro#ing, harvesting and transporting the "rop and pro"essing it into something that "ould be used in an oil burner or internal "ombustion engine% $3o the maths,$ the& are al#a&s &elling% /bviousl& the& "an4t be arsed to do the maths themselves% Either that or the& la"* the basi" arithmeti" s*ills% 0nd so another green #et dream has be"ome a nightmare for the 5armageddonist movement, though politi"ians and those #ith mone& invested in biofuel "ontinue to promote it, environmentalists have turned against it% Even 0l .ore
"laims biofuels are a 6mista*e7%

2t gets #orse ho#ever% ,igures from international agen"ies sho# that as arable land is given over to biofuel "rops, land for food is simpl& ta*en from other areas 8 often forests 8 leading to substantial C/2 emissions% 0nd pro"essing biofuels emits C/2, drasti"all& redu"ing benefits% 2n the EU, "rop-based biofuels have repla"ed 9 per "ent of fuel used in transport% 2f the biofuels #ere emission-free, that #ould redu"e emissions b& 9 per "ent 8 totalling about 9: million tons 't! of C/2 ea"h &ear b& 2020% But a 2013 stud& b& the 2nternational 2nstitute for ;ustainable 3evelopment sho#s that deforestation, fertilisers and fossil fuels used in the produ"tion of biofuels #ould emit about 9<'t of C/2% =inet& )#o per "ent of the "arbon dio(ide 6saved7 b& using

biofuel is emitted else#here in the pro"ess% ,or biodiesel alone, the net effe"t #ould li*el& be an in"rease in emissions% )a*ing offi"ial figures from the EU the total savings #ould be a minus"ule 9't, or about one-tenth of one per "ent of total European emissions% Even over a "entur&, the effe"t of these savings #ould be trivial% 5hen run in a standard "limate model #hi"h assumes C/2 is the driver of "limate "hange, hitting EU biofuel use targets #ould postpone global temperature rises b& 2100 b& just 9> hours% 0nd the "ost to ta(pa&ers is some ?@ billion a &earA ea"h ton of C/2 avoided "osts about ?1,200% )he EUBs in"redibl& ineffi"ient 6"ap and trade7 s&stem is estimated to "ost less than ?< for ea"h ton avoided 8 so #e pa& almost 300 times too mu"h for redu"ing emissions b& using biofuel% )he obs"ene e(pense and tin& alleged! benefit is onl& the beginning of #hat is #rong #ith biofuels% 2n almost ever& #a&, the& are a disaster% EU biofuel proje"ts ta*e up an area of farmland larger than the si1e of Belgium, and a similar area is used in poor nations #here food shortages are a regular o""urren"e to gro# biofuel "rops for import to Europe% 2rrigating biofuel "rops in Europe uses as mu"h #ater as the "ombined flo# of the rivers ;eine and Elbe% 'oreover, farmers use fast-gro#ing trees li*e poplar, #illo# and eu"al&ptus for biofuels% Unfortunatel&, these trees emit a "hemi"al "alled isoprene, an air pollutant #hi"h "an affe"t human health% 0 stud& b& Lan"aster Universit& sho#s that in"reasing the "rop fields to meet the EUBs 10 per "ent target #ill in"rease air pollution, "ause an e(tra 1,<00 deaths, and "ost ?9%2 billion annuall&% But most importantl&, in moral terms, is the fa"t that using land to gro# fuel rather than food is an abomination in a #orld #here almost a billion people still go hungr&% 2t is estimated that European biofuels no# ta*e up enough land to feed 100
million people, and the United ;tatesBs programme ta*es up even more%

)he best e"onomi" estimates suggest that eliminating a ton of C/2 emissions saves the #orld about ?< in environmental damage% ;o for ea"h pound spent on biofuels, #e avoid about a +uarter of one penn& of "limate damage even if biofuels #ould save

the planet, the& #ould destro& e"onomies% 2n fa"t starvation brought about b& the e"onomi" ruin #rea*ed on nations #ould be a far more effe"tive #a& of redu"ing "arbon emissions% ,rom a more obje"tive point of vie#, Bjorn Lomborg seems to "are more about bashing biofuels than proposing #or*able ideas for solving environmental issues and the depletion of non rene#able reserves% Biofuels are an eas& target for those #ishing to e(pose the m&opi" idio"& of the s"ien"e a"ademe and politi"al establishment% )he obsession #ith phishing for =obel Cri1es is paral&sing investment in innovative fuel sour"es% 2t also pla&s into the hands of those big mone& interests that see* onl& opportunities for boosting profits, the ban*ers, energ& "ompanies and Big ,ood% 2n the modern #orld, most developed nations have stri"t rules about the use agri"ultural land ma& be put to, and as &ou might have guessed these rules are often "ounter produ"tive% Confli"ts of interest bet#een the various parties has brought the European biofuels industr& to a halt% 'ean#hile #e onl& need to loo* at the results of the e(panding oil palm industr& in ;umatra and Borneo to see the idio"& of the e"obarmpot biofuels poli"& pursued b& the United =ations and their "orporate "ronies% Large native populations, in"luding man& #ho had previousl& had little "onta"t #ith "ivili1ation have been displa"es far more than have been displa"ed b& the non rising sea levels "ause b& global non warming% 0nd for the ,riends of the Earth D 5orld 5ildlife ,und hand #ringers /rang /utan populations have been de"imated due to #holesale destru"tion of pristine rain forest to fa"ilitate the produ"tion of this green disaster% 5hat about other t&pes of biofuelE 5hole s#athes of forests in the U;0 are "ut
&ran &utan throwin shit at 'io(uel workers who ha)e destroyed its en)ironment

do#n and transported in the form of #ood pellets in order to suppl& 3ra( po#er station at a "ost of almost ?1 billion of British ta(pa&ers mone&! in order to assuage the green mentalit& and the ridi"ulous C/2 emission redu"tion targets set b& intentional treat&% )he main reasons that la#ma*ers have failed to find agreement on a #a& for#ard for developing sustainable energ& sour"es are the mind-boggling "omple(it& and "on"eptual in"oheren"e of the s"ientists proposals% Ceople tend to thin* most obje"tions to biofuels are about the greenhouse gas emissions released b& bringing natural land into "ultivation to gro# biofuel "rops su"h as #heat for bioethanol and rape for biodiesel! and pro"essing the seeds into oil ans spirit, but it isnBt% )he issues are about dire"t land use "hange and involve the lab&rinthine regulations, treaties and re"ommendations of the United =ations, 5orld )rade /rgani1ation, /EC3, EU and a host of other bodies the members of #hi"h all must be "onsulted about matter #hi"h might dire"tl& or indire"tl& affe"t them% 2n other #ords an& de"ent ideas put for#ard via this route #ill be st&mied b& the bureau"rati" paral&sis that affli"ts all the underta*ings of big .overnment% 2n the final anal&sis of "ourse, the "ase it that biofuels do not #or*% 5hi"h is #h& the #orlds largest biofuel po#er station #hi"h #as in the UF has "losed do#n% 24ll rephrase that, the& #or* all right, but the& are massivel& ineffi"ient% Cour fertili1er made using gas oil or mined at enormous environmental "ost and then refined using fossil fuel energ&, onto a"res of ground, irrigate, plant, spra& and harvest #ith diesel po#ered agri"ultural ma"hines, transport, pro"ess using heat from fossil fuels and ele"tri" po#er to drive the e+uipment, and get a fe# gallons of diesel or spirit out of it% )he numbers spea* for themselves% ;olar panelG 1005Ds+ meters H gas ba"*up station 5ind farmG 1-25Ds+ meter H gas ba"*up station Biofuels 0%15D;+ meter

)hat4s the average po#er &ou "an get out of an s+uare meter of land used for 4sustainables4 generation =u"lear po#er stationG 10005Ds+ m Iou should not even need to do the arithmeti"% 0s usual the Jene#able Energ& 0sso"iation, paid to lie on behalf of a bun"h of rent see*ing profiteers, is thro#ing numbers at &ou that loo* impressive, but #hen &ou put them side b& side #ith the realit& of the alternatives, the& are "omi"al% RELATED POSTS:
Bjorn Lomborg on Big .reen greed and foll& Big .reen versus Big Fo"h Jising seas and )he Unsin*able 2slands )he 3ar* ;ide /f Biote"h "limate Change and )he )otalitarian 0genda Energ& Crisis )he e"omomi" importan"e of fertili1er ;"ien"e and the green holo"aust Climate Change menu ;"ien"e and te"hnolog& menu ClimateG .eo - engineering s"am Climate Change and overpopulation 5ho 2s 3eliberatel& 5re"*ing /ur Clanet 5ind )urbine ;"am )he )ruth 0bout 5ind )urbines Lea*ed 2CCC Jeport Jings ,alse =ote, Jeveals ,as"ist .lobalist 0genda Behind .lobal 5arming ;"am 5e Just .ot ,ooled 0gain
CR*+TI,* C&--&.S: attri'/ no comm/ no der)s. PICT0R*S: Wikimedia Commons