SG Expects Debate D-8 Cairo Energy Meeting to also discuss the Pros and Cons on Bioenergy

Istanbul, Turkey | April 21, 2008 by D-8 Secretariat

The policy debate on biofuels is at a crossroads. Public sentiment in the United States and Europe has swung from enthusiasm to alarm, following a string of reports on the high costs of biofuel subsidies, adverse impacts on land and water use, and the “food vs. fuel” trade-off. Many environmental and agroindustry groups are now openly opposed to expanded biofuel production. A U.N. official recently went so far as to call for a worldwide moratorium on biofuel projects, reported by Inter-American Development Bank publication.

According to the publication, for industrialized countries with temperate climates and limited quantities of available farmland, these positions are understandable. Biofuels in the North are generally derived from feedstocks such as corn and rapeseed that have low energy efficiency and require expensive inputs. And since most arable land in the North is already under cultivation, biofuels are likely to compete with food crops if expansion continues.

But these constraints simply do not apply to many developing countries with tropical climates and underutilized agricultural resources. In the South, most biofuels come from energy-efficient feedstocks such as sugar cane and palm oil (sugar cane yields up to 8 units of energy for every unit used in cultivation, compared to 1.3 units for corn). Land and water resources are abundant. Nearly 90 percent of Latin America’s territory, for example, is in humid or semi-humid climates, and by some estimates only 20 percent of that region’s arable land is under cultivation.

As a result, biofuel production in developing countries is far less likely to compete with food. In Brazil, the area currently dedicated to ethanol is 60 times smaller than the total stock of pastureland. Even if 100 percent of the country’s gasoline consumption were to be substituted with cane ethanol, the land required to grow it would still be around half of what Brazil currently devotes to corn.

Small developing countries that are heavily dependent on imported fossil fuels have especially compelling reasons to invest in biofuels. Guyana, for example, relies on imported oil to generate all of its electricity. Yet sugar producers, who account for around 9 percent of the country’s GDP, are able to meet their power needs using generators that burn bagasse (plant waste) left over during the production process.

These producers use old and comparatively inefficient equipment to co-generate electricity. The Inter-American Development Bank estimates if they were to switch to the latest techniques and upgrade to high-pressure boilers, Guyana’s sugar producers could supply up to half of the country’s total electricity needs-without planting any additional cane. Should Guyana use some of its abundant land to expand sugar cane production, it could produce enough ethanol to meet all its transportation needs, co-generate enough electricity to power its entire grid, and still export excess ethanol.

Clearly, the cost-benefit ratio of producing biofuels in the tropics is far more advantageous than in the industrialized North. Instead of issuing blanket condemnations of biofuels, the international community should find complimentary and productive ways to exploit these differences.

D-8 Secretary General, Dipo Alam, appeal to all D-8 memberstates as developing countries to study and scrutinize this debate, while at the the same time keep on examining methods to overcome the challenge of sky-rocketing fuel and petroleoum prices.  D-8 organisation urges the cooperation of all related parties to formulate solution to the current high fuel price problem.

Read Also

• D-8 WG on Energy and D-8 WG on Civil Aviation Should Learn of Bioenergy
• D-8 Should Observes US Energy Bill on Supplying Advanced Biofuels
• Pakistan Ethanol Production to Reduce Oil Imports
• Nigerian State Allocates Funds for Biofuels Development
• 4th D-8 Energy Work Group Meeting to be Held in Cairo, 1-2 June, 2008
• Nigeria to Build Bioethanol Refineries
• Development Efforts of D-8 on Bioenergy should Observes EU’s Concerns
• Nigeria’s First Biofuel Refinery to be Constructed
• Pakistan Biofuels Industry Calls for E5 Mandate
• Developing Non-Food Sources for Biofuels and Biodiesel, D-8 should Learn China’s Biofuel Development Plan