06/15/2006
Source: LOHAS Weekly Newsletter
Author: CleanEdge.com
Biofuels can significantly reduce global
dependence on oil, according to a new report by the Worldwatch Institute,
released in collaboration with the German Agencies for Technical Cooperation
(GTZ) and Renewable Resources (FNR).
Last year, world biofuel production surpassed 670,000 barrels per day,
the equivalent of about 1 percent of the global transport fuel market.
Although oil still accounts for more than 96 percent of transport fuel use,
biofuel production has doubled since 2001 and is poised for even stronger
growth as the industry responds to higher fuel prices and supportive
government policies. "Coordinated action to expand biofuel markets and
advance new technologies could relieve pressure on oil prices while
strengthening agricultural economies and reducing climate-altering
emissions," says Worldwatch Institute President Christopher Flavin.
The new report, Biofuels for Transportation: Global Potential and
Implications for Sustainable Agriculture and Energy in the 21st Century,
sponsored by the German Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer
Protection (BMELV), is a comprehensive assessment of the opportunities and
risks associated with the large-scale international development of biofuels.
It includes information from existing country studies on biofuel use in
Brazil, China, Germany, India, and Tanzania.
Brazil is the world's biofuel leader, with half of its sugar cane crop
providing more than 40 percent of its non-diesel transport fuel. In the
United States, where 15 percent of the corn crop provides about 2 percent of
the non-diesel transport fuel, ethanol production is growing even more
rapidly. This surging growth may allow the U.S. to overtake Brazil as the
world's biofuel leader this year. Both countries are now estimated to be
producing ethanol at less than the current cost of gasoline.
Figures cited in the report reveal that biofuels could provide 37 percent
of U.S. transport fuel within the next 25 years, and up to 75 percent if
automobile fuel economy doubles. Biofuels could replace 20-30 percent of the
oil used in European Union countries during the same time frame.
As the first-ever global assessment of the potential social and
environmental impacts of biofuels, Biofuels for Transportation warns that
the large-scale use of biofuels carries significant agricultural and
ecological risks. "It is essential that government incentives be used to
minimize competition between food and fuel crops and to discourage expansion
onto ecologically valuable lands," says Worldwatch Biofuels Project Manager
Suzanne Hunt. However, the report also finds that biofuels have the
potential to increase energy security, create new economic opportunities in
rural areas, and reduce local pollution and emissions of greenhouse gases.
The long-term potential of biofuels is in the use of non-food feedstock
that include agricultural, municipal, and forestry wastes as well as
fast-growing, cellulose-rich energy crops such as switchgrass. It is
expected that the combination of cellulosic biomass resources and
"next-generation" biofuel conversion technologies--including ethanol
production using enzymes, or synthetic diesel production via
gasification/Fischer-Tropsch synthesis--will compete with conventional
gasoline and diesel fuel without subsidies in the medium term.
The report recommends policies to accelerate the development of biofuels,
while maximizing the benefits and minimizing the risks. Recommendations
include:
For the complete article on CleanEdge.com click here.
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