Dutch Commission Differentiates Good Biofuels from Bad

Biofuels such as ethanol offer a promising alternative to energy, but are they really more environmentally friendly? A number of scientists think not. While ethanol, an alcohol derived from biomass such as corn, is a good alternative to gasoline, it requires petroleum to make, making it potentially more environmentally destructive to make than it is worth. This does not have to be the case, however, and it is theoretically possible to make a number of biofuels without harming the environment needlessly. To the end of making this possible, the Dutch Cramer Commission, operating in a country where biofuel development has hit an unreasonable level, has recently put forward a system of criteria to determine when biofuel production is and isn't acceptable.

Biomass, which essentially is any variety of organic matter, offers a potentially vast source of energy. Using photosynthesis to convert sunlight into energy, plants can harness a great deal of power, which, through emerging chemical properties, can yield useful fuel. However, the agricultural practices used to create biomass often do enough damage to outweigh the good caused by this renewable source of fuel. Why is this? Fertilizers are primarily to blame. Almost all of the food we eat is grown with the use petroleum based fertilizers, without which the abundant harvests we enjoy would not be possible. In fact, more than a gallon of petroleum is actually used in growing enough corn to make a gallon of ethanol. Because of the way the economy currently works, this is the most cost effective way of producing the substance, but that need not be the case. Grasses and weeds, for example, provide a way of quickly generating biomass without the help of any petroleum.

This new system put forward in the Netherlands offers a way to judge between the good biofuel farming practices and the bad, segregating those that truly lead to sustainable energy from those that don't. This system works by taking into account the amount of fossil fuels used in making the biofuel, whether the crops grown for the purpose take valuable land away from useful agriculture, and whether the agricultural practices used are ecologically sound. The rules forbid rainforest clearing, which is now widely used for the purpose.

While this system is a good idea, implementing it as mandatory would violate World Trade Organization rules, and thus will probably not happen. Instead, it will be implemented on a voluntary basis. While it will likely provide some useful direction to biofuel manufacturers, the fact that it is not mandatory means that it will likely have little effect.

Sources:

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/04/28/ap3664476.html

http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/32047/newsDate/15-Aug-2005/story.htm