Dutch plan restricts biofuels that damage environment
Dutch plan restricts biofuels that damage environment
mongabay.com
April 29, 2007
The Netherlands has proposed a system to reduce the environmental impact of biofuels production. The country becomes the first in the world to establish such guidelines.
Environmentalists have expressed increasing concern for the establishment of energy crops in biodiverse and carbon-rich ecosystems like the peatlands of Indonesia and the Amazon rainforest. They say that conversion of these forests for oil palm and soybeans is threatening endangered species and worsening global warming. Further, they warn, demand for such biomass energy products is driving up prices for food crops.
The new Dutch initiative, put forth by a commission led by Environment Minister Jacqueline Cramer, draws up a framework by which companies can measure the sustainability of crops used for biofuels.
“Biomass production should not come at the expense of environmental damage and it should lead to less emissions of greenhouses gases than fossil fuels,” the report said.
 Oil palm plantation in Malaysia. Malaysia is currently the world’s largest producer of palm oil, though Indonesia is soon expected to surpass it in production. Photo by Rhett A. Butler |
“The framework evaluates emission reduction compared with fossil fuels and whether the crops supplant other land uses such as food production,” reported the Associated Press. “It also looks at whether the crops reduce biodiversity, damage the environment or use pesticides.”
The system would initially be voluntary in order to skirt World Trade Organization (WTO) regulations.
“As long as it’s a voluntary system, we don’t have a problem,” Minster Cramer told the Associated Press.
A draft version of the initiative sets forth criteria for biofuels production including the impacts on greenhouse gas emissions, local food supplies and prices, biodiversity, water supplies, soil quality, and social well-being of workers–important measures given that soy and oil palm cultivation have increasingly been linked with worker abuse, land rights violations, and environmental degradation.
 Photo by Rhett A. Butler |
Environmental groups expressed guarded enthusiasm for the proposal.
“[We support] the use of bio-fuels as an alternative to fossil fuels, as long as it can be proved that these bio-fuels are truly sustainable,” said Wetlands International, a Dutch-based organization that has been instrumental in highlighting problems associated with unsustainable palm oil production. “Although the NGO is relieved that palm oil from peatlands is no longer supported in the Netherlands, Wetlands International supports other NGOs in their criticisms of some other elements of the report.”
Wetlands International goes on to say that the commission is too lax with regard to deforestation for energy crops and addressing poverty concerns.
“Support to bio-fuel production displaces food production in some areas and leads to higher food prices,” said the group. “There are no criteria presented to ban bio-fuels that do compete with food production in developing countries.”
Greenpeace and Environment Defense were also critical according to the Associated Press (AP).
“In essential areas, the plans fall short,” the groups told the AP. “Rain forests can still be cleared for new plantations.”
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