Exploding the Biofuel Myths

Biofuels are the subject of much heated debate. In the hands of big business, just how green are they? And what is their human cost?

The word biofuels suggests renewable abundance: clean, green, sustainable assurance about technology and progress. This pure image allows industry, politicians, the World Bank, the United Nations, and even the International Panel on Climate Change to present fuels made from corn, sugarcane, soy and other crops as the next step in a smooth transition from peak oil to a yet-to-be-defined renewable fuel economy.

Biofuel draws its power from cornucopian myths and direct our attention away from economic interests that would benefit from the transition, while avoiding discussion of the growing North-South food and energy imbalance. They obscure the political-economic relationships between land, people, resources and food, and fail to help us understand the profound consequences of the industrial transformation of our food and fuel systems. “Agro-fuels” better describes the industrial interests behind the transformation, and is the term most widely used in the Global South

Industrialised countries started the biofuels boom by demanding ambitious renewable fuel targets. These fuels are scheduled to provide 5.75% of Europe’s transport power by 2010 and 10% by 2020. The United States wants 35bn gallons a year. These targets far exceed the agricultural capacities of the industrial North. Europe would need to plant 70% of its farmland with fuel crops. The entire corn and soy harvest of the United States would need to be processed as ethanol and biodiesel. Converting most arable land to fuel crops would destroy the food systems of the North, so Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development countries are looking to the South to meet demand. Its governments appear eager to oblige.

The rapid capitalisation and concentration of power within the biofuels industry is extreme. Over the past three years venture capital investment in biofuels has increased by 800%. Private investment is swamping public research institutions, as evidenced by BP’s recent award of $0.5bn to the University of California. Behind the scenes, under the noses of most national anti-trust laws, giant oil, grain, auto and genetic engineering corporations are forming partnerships: ADM and Monsanto; Chevron and Volkswagen; BP, DuPont, and Toyota. These are consolidating the research, production, processing, and distribution chains of food and fuel systems under one industrial roof.

Biofuel champions assure us that because fuel crops are renewable, they are environment-friendly, can reduce global warming and will foster rural development. But the tremendous market power of biofuel corporations, coupled with the poor political will of governments to regulate their activities, make this unlikely.

Biofuel champions assure us that because fuel crops are renewable, they are environment-friendly, can reduce global warming and will foster rural development. But the tremendous market power of biofuel corporations, coupled with the poor political will of governments to regulate their activities, make this unlikely. We need a public enquiry into the myths.

1. Biofuels “are clean and green”

Because photosynthesis performed by fuel crops removes greenhouse gases from the atmosphere and can reduce fossil fuel consumption, we are told they are green. But when the full lifecycle of biofuels is considered, from land clearing to consumption, the moderate emission savings are outweighed by far greater emissions from deforestation, burning, peat drainage, cultivation and soil carbon losses. Every ton of palm oil generates 33 tons of carbon dioxide emissions – 10 times more than petroleum. Tropical forests cleared for sugar cane ethanol emit 50% more greenhouse gases than the production and use of the same amount of gasoline. Doug Parr, chief British scientist at Greenpeace, said: “If even 5% of biofuels are sourced from wiping out existing ancient forests, you’ve lost all your carbon gain.”

2. Biofuels “will not result in deforestation”

Proponents of biofuels argue that fuel crops planted on ecologically degraded lands will improve rather than destroy the environment. Perhaps the government of Brazil had this in mind when it re-classified some 200m hectares of dry-tropical forests, grassland and marshes as degraded and apt for cultivation. In reality, these are the bio-diverse ecosystems of the Mata Atlantica, the Cerrado and the Pantanal, occupied by indigenous people, subsistence farmers and extensive cattle ranches.

The introduction of agrofuel plantations will push these communities to the agricultural frontier of the Amazon where the devastating patterns of deforestation are well known. Soybeans supply 40% of Brazil’s biofuels. NASA has correlated their market price with the destruction of the Amazon rainforest — currently at nearly 325,000 hectares a year.

3. Biofuels “will bring rural development”

In the tropics, 100 hectares dedicated to family farming generates 35 jobs. Oil-palm and sugarcane provide 10 jobs, eucalyptus two, and soybeans a scant half-job per 100 hectares, all poorly paid. Until recently, biofuels supplied primarily local and sub-regional markets. Even in the US most ethanol plants were small and farmer-owned. With the boom, big industry is moving in, centralising operations and creating gargantuan economies of scale. Big Oil, Big Grain, and Big Genetic Engineering are consolidating control over the biofuel value chain.

The market power of these corporations is staggering: Cargill and ADM control 65% of the global grain trade, Monsanto and Syngenta 25% of the $60bn gene-tech industry. This allows them to extract profits from the most lucrative and low-risk segments of the value chain: inputs, processing and distribution. Biofuels producers will be dependent on a cabal of companies for their seed, inputs, services, processing and sale. They are not likely to receive many benefits. Smallholders will be forced out of the market and off the land. Hundreds of thousands have already been displaced by the soybean plantations in the “Republic of Soy,” a 50m hectare area in southern Brazil, northern Argentina, Paraguay, and eastern Bolivia.

4. Biofuels “will not cause hunger”

Hunger, said Amartya Sen, results not from scarcity, but poverty. According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), there is enough food in the world to supply everyone with a daily 2,700-calorie diet of fresh fruit, nuts, vegetables, grains, dairy produce and meat. But because they are poor, 824 million people go hungry. In 2000 world leaders promised to halve the number of hungry and poor by 2015. Little progress has been made. The world’s poorest already spend 50-80% of household income on food. They suffer when high fuel prices push up food prices. Now, because food and fuel crops compete for land and resources, both increase the price of land and water.

The world’s poorest already spend 50-80% of household income on food. They suffer when high fuel prices push up food prices. Now, because food and fuel crops compete for land and resources, both increase the price of land and water.

This perverse, inflationary spiral puts food and productive resources out of reach for the poor. The International Food Policy Research Institute has estimated that the price of basic staples will increase 20-33% by 2010 and 26-135% by 2020. Caloric consumption declines as price rises by a ratio of 1:2. With every 1% rise in the cost of food, 16 million people are made food insecure.

Limits must be placed on the biofuels industry. The North cannot shift the burden of over-consumption to the South because the tropics have more sunlight, rain and arable land. If biofuels are to be forest- and food-friendly, the grain, cane and palm oil industries need to be regulated, and not piecemeal. Strong, enforceable standards based on limiting land planted for biofuels are urgently needed, as are anti-trust laws powerful enough to prevent the corporate concentration of market power in the industry. Sustainable benefits to the countryside will only accrue if biofuels are a complement to plans for sustainable rural development, not the centrepiece.

A global moratorium on the expansion of biofuels is needed to develop regulatory structures and foster conservation and development alternatives to the transition. We need the time to make a better transition to food and fuel sovereignty.

Eric Holt-Giménez is Executive Director of the Food First.

Copyright (c) 2007 Le Monde diplomatique, syndicated by Agence Global