Bio-energy: green fuels and red herrings. Ariel Brunner EU Agriculture Policy Officer BirdLife International

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1 Bio-energy: green fuels and red herrings Ariel Brunner EU Agriculture Policy Officer BirdLife International

2 We've got to be aggressive about finding alternative sources of fuel. And one such source is ethanol. Ethanol comes from corn - and we're pretty good about growing corn here in America, we've got a lot of good corn growers. Therefore, it makes sense to promote ethanol as an alternative to foreign sources of oil. George W Bush Biofuels are being often presented as a silver bullet We need to be bold on biofuels.. Marian Fischer-Boel Today, we have an opportunity to bolster confidence in our capabilities to respond to new challenges and global threats. By investing in biofuels, we can also join with developing countries in spreading peace, prosperity and the promise of a better future. Luiz Inacio (Lula) Da Silva "Our continent should have as its vocation to become the primary world supplier of biofuels" Abdoulaye Wade (President of Senegal)

3 But many environmentalists are reacting badly

4 Why now? Oil price hike Political instability in key oil producing regions Climate change And in the EU Political need to keep EU farmers happy

5 What fuels? Ethanol- mainly in Brazil and US Bio-diesel- mainly in the EU (Gremany, France) And in the future (maybe?) Second generation biofuels Overshadowed by the biofuel debate are other Biomass energy technologies: Biomass for heat and power (still one the world s main energy sources) Biogas

6 What crops?

7 Biofuels:a renewable energy source But non carbon neutral! Combustion Photosynthesis Conversion of biomass to biofuel

8 Biofuels can have very different GHG balance over the whole life cycle Main factors: Previous land use (usually ignored!) BF yield Fertilizer use Sort of energy used for the transformation stage Fate of by products % % WTW GHG savings compared to petrol or diesel Ethanol (sugarbeet) Ethanol (wheat / grain) Ethanol (corn) Ethanol (sugar cane) Ethanol (wood) Biodiesel (rapeseed) Biodiesel (wood)

9 Different biomass production use land with different efficiency 0,6 Acreage requirement per ton of CO2 reduction 0,5 0,4 0,3 0,2 G O O D 0,1 0 RME RME Bioethanol Reed Reed Poplar Poplar (Rape oil based Biofuel) (Sugar Cane) (sugar cane based Biofuel ) Bio-mass Source: Calculations based on Schmitz 2005, Kaltschmitt 2002, IEA I 2004

10 Biofuel production requires huge amounts of land Meeting the current 5.75% target for EU Biodiesel will consume 192% of EU 2005 vegetable oil production or 14% of global projected production in 2012 In Brazil alone, soy is already expanding at a rate of about 1.7 million hectares per year (just for food and feed production); the first Petrobras biodiesel plant will require further ha of soy Palm oil plantation expansion is already thought to be responsible for the loss of 1.2Mha of tropical forests in Malaysia and 2.05Mha in Indonesia ; further 3 million ha to oil palm plantations are planned for the next 5 years in Indonesia In the US an additional 2.6 million hectares of corn are needed to meet biofuel demand next year..

11 Very small contributions to the energy market can have far reaching land use impacts

12 Which means adding pressure on ecosystems

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16 A European case study: Little Bustard in France, biofuels driving extinction? Little Bustard population in France by 90% since 1980s - local extinction a real possibilty. Populations now relies on setaside land, managed under agrienvironment scheme. In Poitou-Charantes, this scheme pays 150 /ha BUT Oil seed rape on set-aside gives a returnof /ha Therefore biofuels provide major economic dis-incentive against managing land to benefit biodiversity.

17 Germany: fuelling intensification? Rapeseed Rapid expansion, especially on set-aside land: 1.1m ha for energy or industrial use (i.e. 11% of the total arable land), of which 350,000 ha is on set aside. often replaces fodder crops such as clovergrass or alfalfa that provide key habitat to species such as Lesser spotted eagle, Red kite and Ortolan bunting

18 Germany: fuelling intensification? Maize The German Renewable Energy Act strongly favors maize for biogas plants. This either leads to conversion of grassland into arable land, or to an intensification of the remaining grassland to produce all the cow fodder the farm needs. Increase in maize area and grassland intensification often follows the construction of a biogas plant.

19 What about food? Higher prices for agriculture benefit farmers and commodity exporting countries but penalise poor consumers and food importing countries Many indirect effects: biofuels competing with animal feed for row material but biofuels co-products used as feed Tricky political questions around food security and economic growth- is it positive for developing countries to abandon food production in favour export fuel?

20 The established facts First generation BF require a huge amount of land. Pressure on the environment is unavoidable. Biofuels are not carbon neutral. Their GHG performance is hugely variable. All studies indicated that current corn ethanol technologies have greenhouse gas emissions similar to those of gasoline Farrel et al; Science The most rational use for biomass is in heat and power production and in second generation fuels if and when this technology kicks in. GHG reduction potential of bio-fuel production has very high abatement costs (under the most promising perspective will cost 300 /t CO2eq); cropping of fast-growing woods to produce electricity which entails an abatement cost lower than 50 /ton CO2 Fondazione Enrico Mattei/MEACAP project

21 EU policy: the context Transport causes 21% of EU emissions EU policy aims at 10% substitution with Biofuels Commission claims that European produced BF would have emissions 35-50% lower than fossil fuel This means saving less than 1% of emissions. Where is the cost benefits analysis and is it worth the risk of charging ahead with no safeguards? EU politicians seem convinced. EU council has just decided to impose a mandatory 10% biofuels target.

22 EU policy: a schizophrenic approach? Decoupling transport growth from economic growth is being abandoned Non binding energy efficiency targets No binding targets for heating and cooling No environmental safeguards explicitly envisaged Biofuels seem to be the only solution where real political will is being invested! On a brighter note: The council has opted for an overall renewable target of 20% by 2020 The Commission has proposed a new Fuel quality Directive that tries to address GHG balance of all fuels The Commission is looking into a mandatory csustainability certification scheme for biofuels

23 Consequences A string of harmful plantation projects, particularly in Indonesia, being justified by BF export Car companies allowed to count Biofuel use toward new emission standard German tax payers pay for every hectare of oilseed rape 900 Euro per year and the electricity consumers pay for every hectare of silage maize for biogas plants 2000 Euro per year of subsidies (In the US a SUV owner is being subsidised by around 900$ for driving around on ethanol).

24 It doesn t need to go this way.. Bioenergy has an undoubted role to play in tackling climate change BUT It must not be used to distract public opinion from energy saving and energy efficiency Life cycle analysis ensuring a GHG balance significantly better (60% less emissions) than fossil fuel Strict standards on feedstock production to prevent significant negative effects on biodiversity and other environmental aspects (both inside and outside Europe).

25 How to ensure it goes right? The Fuel quality Directive must include a GHG reduction mechanism based on sound LCA (i.e. one that includes emissions from cultivation and land use change) The new Renewable energy Directive must: Include a comprehensive and mandatory certification scheme covering environmental impacts of bio-energy Link any public support to the achievement of significant GHG emissions reduction Include safeguard mechanisms to reassess both targets and delivery mechanisms against environmental (and social) impacts

26 What about biomass from forests? Sustainability is NOT simply harvesting less than the annual growth of forest! Forests need dead wood Biomass extraction: Should not lead to decrease in ecological value of forests Should not stop maturation process of recovering forests Should not lead to the expansion of plantations and spread of exotic species Should not lead to afforestation of important open habitats (meadows, steppes, wetlands, maqui)

27 Win-win solutions Low input farming Increased diversity in intensive farming landscapes (new crops, rotation crops, short rotation coppice, hedgerows) Sustainable harvest of habitats that need management (reedbeds, meadows, coppice forests) Industrial organic waste recovery Farm waste recovery Forestry residues recovery Mainly possible in the case of heat & electricity production, biogas and with second generation biofuels

28 Agriculture has other (much more important?) roles to play Agriculture accounts for 9% of EU-25 GHG emissions; big reductions are possible, especially of N2O and CH4 Current agriculture methods cause massive loss of C from soil; Organic or no till farming can revert this and transform soils into carbon sinks Habitat restoration can create carbon sinks (though forest is not automatically good!) Adaptation Improving ecological quality of farmland to help biodiversity survive CC Accommodating and buffering increased floods and droughts Mitigation measures GHG reduction costs t-1 CO2-eq. Straw and slurry-based housing systems Manure application techniques Frequency of manure removal -cattle - pigs No reduction Anaerobic digestion Improved manure storage techniques - pigs - cattle Nitrification inhibitors Organic farming 10-0 Increase of grazing in comparison to animal housing Feeding strategies - cattle - pigs Source: MEACAP project

29 Thank you for your attention!