The Seven Commandments of Mexican biofuels: from social justice to sustainability
The overriding goal emerging from Cantú's excellent paper titled "Ethanolomics: The Think-About's of the Mexican Ethanol Project" [*.pdf] is to devise a strategy for improving the living standards of the rural poor in Mexico via an invigoration of the agricultural economy, boosting energy security for the population at large while limiting the catastrophic effects of high oil prices on the poor, and contributing to the fight against climate change by producing fuels that effectively reduce carbon emissions.
In theory, biofuels "could potentially [...] solve all of the above problems" writes Cantú, an argument voiced by many biofuel proponents in the Global South (and partially by organisations like the FAO, the WorldWatch Institute and the IEA). Plant based alternatives to oil could:
diminish the global ecological harm that the fossil fuels are making; lessen the economical dependence of some countries with the global markets and foreign policies [...]; be a renewable energy source, because it would use biomass inputs; and power up rural economical dynamism.But this is theory. The same theory set out in our 'Biofuels Manifesto'. In reality, biofuels can go two ways: either perpetuating social injustices, concentrating power in an ever smaller number of hands, and damaging the environment, or they can become an engine for poverty alleviation, rural revival, a healthier environment, reduce hunger and bring global social justice. In order to make sure biofuels take the latter path, Cantú provides a set of ground rules. It won't be easy to follow them, but it is not impossible either. The guidelines are:
energy :: sustainability :: biomass :: bioenergy :: biofuels :: ethanol :: climate change :: poverty alleviation :: rural development :: energy security :: Mexico ::
- Over the whole chain, the use of biomass should produce fewer emissions of greenhouse gases net than on average with fossil fuel.
- Production of biomass for energy must not endanger the food supply and other local applications (such as for medicines or building materials).
- Biomass production must not affect protected or vulnerable biodiversity and will, where possible, have to strengthen biodiversity.
- In the production and processing of biomass, the quality of soil, surface and ground water and air must be retained or even increased.
- The production of biomass must contribute towards local prosperity.
- The production of biomass must contribute towards the social well being of the employees and the local population.
- The overall ethanol production costs should be cheaper and more accessible than that of the fossil fuels, or at least the same level, excluding all the subsidies or tax benefits to the producers or distributors.
Cantú stresses that a key requirement of a biofuel economy in Mexico is that the farmers capture the rewards of their production. In other words, one wants to avoid a situation in which farmers sell their sugar cane or maize or sorghum at rock-bottom prices to middlemen who then grab all the upstream profits. Cantú envisions farmer cooperatives setting up their own ethanol mills, and dealing directly with distributors.
Such a model is not uncommon in the U.S. and in Europe, and there's no reason, in principle, it couldn't work in Mexico or in other developing countries, says Leonard. But it would require strong government leadership and the sharp eye of civil society organisations to check whether policies are enacted.
Indeed, to achieve all the goals outlined above would require a tightly regulated market with significant government intervention: in other words, a direct repudiation of the kind of Washington Consensus policies of deregulation and privatization that the West has been pushing on Latin America and elsewhere for decades.
References:
Ricardo Cantú, "Ethanolomics: The Think-About’s of the Mexican Ethanol Project" [*.pdf], Cátedra de Integración Económica y Desarrollo Social, Escuela de Graduados en Administración Pública y Politica Pública, Tecnológico de Monterrey, Working Paper No. 2007-3.
Salon: The Seven Commandments of Mexican ethanol - September 28, 2007.
Biopact: Worldwatch Institute chief: biofuels could end global malnourishment - August 23, 2007
Biopact: FAO chief calls for a 'Biopact' between the North and the South - August 15, 2007
Biopact: IEA report: bioenergy can meet 20 to 50% of world's future energy demand - September 12, 2007
Biopact: High oil prices disastrous for developing countries - September 12, 2007
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Saturday, September 29, 2007
Research finds recovery from acid rain much slower than expected
Over the last 20 years, serious action has been taken across Europe to clean up acid pollutants from power generation and industry, which was widely expected to bring recovery. However, new research led by Cardiff University's School of Biosciences shows that the expected improvements in rivers are far short of expectations.
The dissappointing findings are important for the developing world, and in particularly for Asia, where acid rain still is a major problem. There, energy consumption has surged and reliance on coal and oil remains very high. By 2020, Asian SO2 emissions could reach 110 million metric tons if no action is taken beyond current levels of control (graph, click to enlarge). As a result, damage to natural ecosystems and crops is likely to increase dramatically, at an enormous social and economic cost.
An example from India illustrates the dramatic effects of acid rain on agricultural productivity: researchers there found that wheat growing near a coal-fired power plant where SO2 deposition was almost five times greater than the critical load (the amount the soil can safely absorb without harm) suffered a 49 percent reduction in yield compared with wheat growing 22 kilometers away.
Damage could be largely avoided if modern pollution control technologies, such as flue-scrubbers, are widely adopted and if low-sulfur fuels are used. In this context, bioenergy and biofuels offer a major alternative to coal and oil. Co-firing low-sulfur biomass in power plants combined with a transition to 100% biomass power plants and biofuels in transportation can drastically reduce both SOx and NOx emissions.
From the Cardiff University scientists we learn that these efforts are urgent, because ecosystem recovery from acid rain takes much longer than expected. Recent studies in Galloway, the Scottish Highlands and Wales reveal that many streams are still highly acidified, decades after the first pollution control measures came into effect. Biological recovery has been particularly poor.
Key findings from the projects, carried out by combined teams from Cardiff University, the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology and National Museum Wales, include:
energy :: sustainability :: biomass :: bioenergy :: biofuels :: coal :: oil :: sulfur :: acid rain ::
- Acidity in Welsh headwaters is declining, but only slowly
- More than two thirds of all streams sampled were acid enough during high flow to cause biological damage, with metals at toxic concentrations
- Sulphur pollution from man-made sources is still an important cause of acid episodes, particularly in Wales
- Sensitive insects survive conditions in the most acid streams for only a few days
- Headwater acidification is still a significant problem for important salmon fisheries, and Special Areas of Conservation such as the Welsh River Wye.
Professor Steve Ormerod of the School of Biosciences, a leading researcher into the biological effects of acid rain for more than 20 years, said: "Organisms and ecosystems are the best indicators of recovery from pollution, so these results will alarm anyone interested in the well-being of our rivers. We need to understand the factors responsible for such delayed recovery, particularly since climate change is likely to make the acidification problem even worse."Dr Chris Evans, an acid-rain specialist from the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology in Bangor, added "pollution reductions are slowly improving in upland waters, but there is a long way to go. The large biological effects of acid episodes shown by this work mean that it is vital to continue monitoring these ecosystems if we are to protect them in future."
The research contrasts with other recent studies which showed some encouraging early signs and will come as disappointing news to those who thought the acid rain problem was solved.
Graph credit: World Resources Institute.
References:
Eurekalert: Recovery from acid rain 'much slower than expected' - September 28, 2007.
World Resources Institute: Acid Rain: Downpour in Asia.
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