Does Biofuels Cost Outweighs Benefit?

A bottle of 75 ml. palm or Soya- bean cooking oil costing only Bath (US$ 0.50) last year has shot up to Baths 45 or US$ 1.25 today. Cooking oil is a commodity controlled by the internal trade in Thailand which means any price increase must have the approval of the regulating department. The Internal trade has allowed the price to gradually rise to Baths 50 (US$ 1.5) by the end of the year.

The price rise, however, does not solve all the cooking oil dilemmas. There is a real fear of shortage supply too. Demand for cooking oil for car fuel has increased significantly due to the rise of oil price and green house emission. Thailand may have to switch her position as a net exporter to importer of crude palm oil.

Thailand will import 30,000 metric tons of palm oil over the next few months (February - April 2008) to ease fears of a shortage due to its growing use in biofuels, commerce minister Krirk-Krai Jirapaet said Wednesday. Worries over a possible shortage had also led to calls for Thailand to ban exports of palm oil to ensure enough supply for domestic cooking oil needs as well as its growing use as an ingredient in biodiesel.

The high price and shortage of cooking oil suffer not only Thai; it affects animals' diet as well. Animal feeds of all kinds from boar of the land, fowl of the air and shrimp and fish under the water will have the eat less or pay for a higher feed cost. There is a looming price war among animal, men, and men created vehicles for oil.

Is the rush to biofuels justified? EU too is having a second thought to go full swing ahead to increase biofuels to 10 % of all transport fuels by 2020. EU taxpayers would have to fork out an extra € 65 billion between and 2020 if European Commission proposal goes ahead. The change will also require the use of huge swaths of land outside Europe that may jeopardize greenhouse gas.

Back home, a new study looking at carbon emissions from drained wetlands in South East Asia suggested total emissions of 33 metric tons of CO₂ for every ton of palm oil produced making it far more damaging than burning fossil fuels.

In Eastern Malaysia, a prototype to grow jatropha for biodiesel is being developed in a 200 acres land. Are there environmental concerns with the growing of jatropha? Also there is new development of algae ponds for production of biodiesel from algae. Is there any undesirable characteristic of algae biodiesel which we are still not yet familiar with? Is any one doing any research on the environmental cost we will have to bear?

As a consumer for fuel and cooking oil, I do have concern for both. I think we are in panic as oil soared from US$ 25 to US$ 100 per barrel in a very short span of time. We need energy at any cost and so we all stampede for biofuels without a clear head. Charging ahead like a gold rush may lead to big trouble.

We are all in the mercy hands of the experts and the policy makers on the matter and I plead to them here that they exercise their wisdom to look before the giant leap.