Biofuelsand food production: Ethical issues

Transcription

1 EU SOCRATES ERASMUS European Community IP Bioethics in life sciences and environmental sciences Biofuelsand food production: Ethical issues BONTEMPS Justine 1, BUREL Mathilde 1 DRAGOMIR Alina 2, DUMITRESCU Eugen 2 FRANCE ROMANIA 22 March - 5 April 2009 Lublin

2 Summary What are biofuels? Global impact Environmental issues Political issues Economical issues Conclusions and discussions

3 The surge in oil prices during the global economic crisis of 1970 prompted many countries to invest heavily in new energy sources. Thus emerged biofuels. More recently, public opinion became aware that natural resources are not inexhaustible and that their use has a significant ecological impact The Kyoto Protocol requires countries that have ratified in 2005 to produce a certain quantity of biofuels to reduce their production of greenhouse gases. Today, shifting cultures of their vocation foodland, biofuels are the center of a debate that would make them guilty of the current food crisis. Paradox of the world we live in is that worldwide 850 million people are suffering from malnutrition and poverty, while in the developed countries is registered a surplus of food production, which is transformed in biofuels is being destroyed

4 We can ask ourselves if it is compatible to produce biofuels while nourishing all the world's population?

5 What are biofuels? Fuels obtained from biological raw materials Fuels obtained from renewable raw materials Solid, liquid or gaseous fuel derived from relatively recently dead biological material. Biofuels can be produced from any carbon source; although, the most common sources are photosynthetic plants.

6 Different types of biofuels First generation biofuels

7 Different types of biofuels

8 General scheme of obtaining biofuels

9 Source Faostat-FAO

10 Source Faostat-FAO

11 What are biofuels? Global impact Environmental issues Political issues Economical issues Conclusions and discussions

12 Global impact As of April 2009, the earth's population is estimated to be about 6.77 billion The arable land worldwide is about 1,440 mil ha. 850 million people is suffering from malnutrition In developed countries there is a enormous surplus of food production

13 Global impact Source FAO Number of undernourished people (in millions)

14 Surplus of food production?

15 What are biofuels? Global impact Environmental issues Political issues Economical issues Conclusions and discussions

16 Energy Pollution Biodiversity Water Biofuels Gases emissions Desertification Deforestation Erosion

17 Energy The amount of energy used to produce BIOFUELS is proved to be bigger than the one used to extract FOSSIL FUEL, but on the other hand We face with a breakdown on fossil stocks

18 Pollution?

19 Gases emissions Biofuels can help us to reduce gases emissions

20 Water Irrigation Desertification

21 Good alternative for saving water supplies Use crops with less water consumption Sorghum S. bicolor S. sudanense Use second and third generation biofuels

22 Deforestation Erosion

23 Biodiversity Diverted but on the other hand Is good for introducing new crops in agro - ecosystem rotation

24 What are biofuels? Global impact Environmental issues Political issues Economical issues Conclusions and discussions

25 Political impact Different countries want to secure themselves energetically power, but in the same time they want to produce food. Undesirable fuel from conflict zones

26 Governments give subsidies for biofuels production in order to increase percentage of biofuels to 10% Biofuels may generate hunger riots because of bad management on land use and bad distribution of food surplus

27 What are biofuels? Global impact Environmental issues Political issues Economical issues Conclusions and discussions

28 By giving subsidies for biofuels production more and more as well as petrol crisis cause food prices increase (Mondial Bank) Speculation strongly condributed to increase prices. -Petrol prices -Wheat prices

29 Biofuels can increase the economical system by providing new jobs and improving competitivity between producers and between countries Crops can be realized on land previously set aside. This allows farmers to increase their areas of cultivated land and thus increase their incomes Agricultural crops for feeding humans and animals tend to be replaced with those that produce raw material for refineries. It may seem unethical to use food products to feed our cars as they could be redistributed to countries affected by famine and malnutrition.

30 Additional conclusion of food prices increase Certain regions of the world have experienced natural disasters (drought, tsunami...) that have reduced harvests and increased selling prices. Finally, changes in diet (increased consumption of meat) of China and India, have contributed to soaring prices by increasing the number of crops used for livestock feed.

31 What are biofuels? Global impact Environmental issues Political issues Economical issues Conclusions and discussions

32 Conclusions The production of biofuels is a solution for the future because they are renewable. Is a problem about conjuncture of each country, about how to solve the problem. Environment must be our concern and we should enjoy what is beautiful around us and try to keep the beauty of the environment for next generations. There must pay attention on distribution channels worldwide in order to make possible the distribution of surplus food production from the development countries to 3 rd world countries. We have to find new varieties with increased efficiency of conversion of solar energy in biomass in order not to need amount of arable land to produce biofuels. Biofuels second and third generation may be a response to our original question: We can ask ourselves if it is compatible to produce biofuels while nourishing all the world's population? Indeed, cultures used for these fuels do not compete with those used in food.

33 Discussions At the end, we can ask, rightly, that is the future of agriculture in this context is moving towards production of biofuels or to produce food.

34 WHAT WILL WE CHOOSE? 1. Biofuels production or food agriculture? 2. to protect the environmental or feed the world.?

35 Thank you for your attention!