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Recently the USA and the EU have both aggred on the implementation of biofuels in their own transportation market in order to reduce their emissions of CO2. 10% in the EU and 20% in the USA of vehicle fuels should be replaced by these "environmentally friendly" alternatives sources of energy. Even if this prospect sounds very sustainable, aiming to tackle ecolgical issues, the flip side of the coin is that the actual process of transition to these forms of energy results even more dramatic.
The standards set up by these two global "green" players represent huge territories to be changed into not sustainable monocultures. The original idea of replacing oil industry with local source of energy is nowadays challenged by economic interests and is being installed in developing countries causing serious economical damages. The petition by the scientific non-profit organisation EcoNexus to the EU "Call for an immediate moratorium on incentives for agrofuels and EU imports of agrofuels", presents the terrifying consequences if the current tendencies keep running.
Agrofuels pose a particular threat to tropical forest and wetland ecosystems, as events in Indonesia already indicate. Such forests play a vital role in stabilising climate and creating rainfall. There is evidence that the Amazon rainforest may be approaching a point where deforestation will have reduced the vegetation so much that it can no longer maintain its rainfall cycle, thus threatening much or all of the ecosystem with potentially rapid die-back and desertification. Further destruction of rainforests and peatlands for agrofuels could push the planetary system into accelerated warming, sea level rise and ecological change sooner than fossil fuel emissions alone. If the current rush for agrofuels is allowed to continue while certification and the necessary macro-level policies are developed, the damage such schemes and policies are meant to prevent will already have been done by the time they are in place. The risks of a 'wait and see' approach are far too high. The EU should apply the precautionary principle to its approach to biofuels and implement a moratorium.
From the 15th until the 19th of October a group of young people gather in Vallekilde Hojskool (Denmark) to the JEF Europe International Seminar "Healthy Environment A Fundamental Human Right" to discuss topics related to environment and possible avenues for sustainability.
Amongst a series of very interesting presentations, the one on Biofuels inspired us to create this blog.
