Biofuel production may raise price of food
15:04 09 May 2007
NewScientist.com news service
New Scientist Environment and Reuters
The emerging biofuels industry risks raising the price of food, the United Nations has warned.
UN-Energy released its guidelines on the rapidly growing bioenergy industry, entitled Sustainable Energy: A Framework for Decision Makers, on 8 May. According to the report, biofuel production already appears to have driven up the price of maize in 2006 and 2007.
Biofuels could have a dual effect on food supplies, the report says. On the one hand, such crops could divert land, water and other resources away from food production. On the other hand, by making energy more widely and cheaply available, biofuels may also increase the availability of food.
"Unless new policies are enacted to protect threatened lands, secure socially acceptable land use, and steer bioenergy development in a sustainable direction overall, the environmental and social damage could in some cases outweigh the benefits," the report says.
Amazing growth
The report recommends that crops that require high fossil energy inputs – such as conventional fertilisers – and valuable farm land should be avoided.
Gustavo Best, senior energy coordinator at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, says the new guidelines were needed because the industry "is so fast, so disorganised, and so misinformed". Global production of biofuels has doubled in the past five years and is likely to double again in the next four years, according to UN figures.
The report also warns that sustainable energy crops could have a negative impact if these replace primary forests, "resulting in large releases of carbon from the soil and forest biomass that negate any benefits of biofuels for decades".
It calls for the creation of an international bioenergy certification scheme, including greenhouse gas certification, to ensure that products meet environmental standards "all the way from the fields to the fuel tanks".
Fuelling debate
2007 has already seen a big increase in international policies related to biofuels. On 24 January, US President George W. Bush announced that the US will cut its gasoline use by 20% over the coming decade, largely by requiring the use of 35 billion gallons of renewable and alternative fuels – including ethanol.
And on 9 March, leaders of the European Union agreed that 20% of energy used in the EU will come from renewable sources by 2020.
Also in March, the United States, China, India, Brazil, South Africa and the European Commission announced the creation of the International Biofuels Forum, which aims to increase global production and use of biofuels.
However, the benefits of biofuels are still hotly debated amongst scientists and economists (see Bush to back bioethanol - but benefits are in the balance).
Brazil is the top producer of ethanol from sugar cane, while the US holds the same position for corn. Together they make up 70% of the global market.
Saturday, 9 June 2007
Third World Concerns
"Right across the board America was behind on so many fronts in terms of attitudes, awareness and what they are fundamentally doing." So says Australian environmentalist Jon Dee, who has completed a global survey into attitudes to the environment for the first annual World Environment Review, published on Tuesday.
While emerging economies are often accused of resisting the need to tackle climate change, the survey, carried out with the Seattle-based research group Global Market Insite, suggests otherwise. People in India and China are more willing than citizens of industrialised nations to place restrictions on carbon emissions from nations like their own.
Indians cared most about carbon emissions, with 55 per cent describing themselves as "very concerned"; just 32 per cent of Britons felt the same way. Dee says this flies in the face of calls for developing countries to wake up to the threat of climate change.
The survey polled opinions from 14,000 people in 14 countries to gather solid data on how people feel about climate change, he adds. Almost 90 per cent of those surveyed thought governments should do more to tackle the issue.
While emerging economies are often accused of resisting the need to tackle climate change, the survey, carried out with the Seattle-based research group Global Market Insite, suggests otherwise. People in India and China are more willing than citizens of industrialised nations to place restrictions on carbon emissions from nations like their own.
Indians cared most about carbon emissions, with 55 per cent describing themselves as "very concerned"; just 32 per cent of Britons felt the same way. Dee says this flies in the face of calls for developing countries to wake up to the threat of climate change.
The survey polled opinions from 14,000 people in 14 countries to gather solid data on how people feel about climate change, he adds. Almost 90 per cent of those surveyed thought governments should do more to tackle the issue.
Global Consumer Survey Climate Change
GLOBAL NIELSEN SURVEY: CONSUMERS LOOK TO GOVERNMENTS TO ACT ON CLIMATE CHANGE
SURVEY SHOWS SURGE IN CONSUMER CONCERN OVER GLOBAL WARMING IN PAST SIX MONTHS:
TWO IN FIVE CONSUMERS WANT GOVERNMENTS TO RESTRICT CARBON DIOXIDE EMISSIONS AND INVEST IN ENVIRONMENTALLY-FRIENDLY SOLUTIONS
June, 5, London, UK --- Ahead of the G8 Summit on Wednesday this week, where climate change is at the top of the agenda, a survey released today by The Nielsen Company and Oxford University’s Environmental Change Institute, has revealed that global concerns about climate change have increased dramatically in the last six months (Figure 1) – and consumers in every region of the world consider it the responsibility of governments to address it (Figure 2).
“Widespread awareness and concern for climate change has reached new heights in the last six months. Politicians and governments must listen to a global consumer ‘call for action’ to save the planet,” said Patrick Dodd, President, ACNielsen Europe.
The survey found two in five (42%) global online consumers believe governments should restrict companies’ emissions of carbon dioxide and other pollutants. Two in five online consumers also said governments should invest in research to find environmentally-friendly and energy-saving solutions. (Figure 2)
“As G8+5 leaders meet at this crucial moment, they should be aware of how alarmed people are about the possibility of a future with an unstable climate, and their consensus that governments must lead the way with tough regulations, research and initiatives,” said Professor Timmons Roberts, James Martin 21st Century School Visiting Professor, Environmental Change Institute, Oxford University, and Professor of Sociology, College of William and Mary, USA. (Figure 2)
The survey found that consumers globally didn’t think that as individuals, they could make much of a contribution to address climate change. ‘Reducing air travel’ was considered least likely to have an impact. Only three percent globally thought it would help – although this number was highest in the UK and Germany, where there has been considerable media focus recently on this issue. Recent reports have claimed local tourism in Germany is booming as consumers make the eco-friendly choice of holidaying ‘at home’, and a similar trend appears to be taking off in the UK.
“Consumers clearly consider it the responsibility of governments to take action and make the greatest contribution to addressing the problems of climate change,” said Dodd.
The online survey, the largest of its kind to be conducted globally on the topic of climate change was conducted in April 2007 and polled 26,486 internet users across 47 countries in North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East.
“We have not witnessed such a dramatic increase in public attention for climate change since the late 1980s. Among a number of influences in the last six months, there have been reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the Stern Review, coupled with freak weather patterns like floods in southern Africa to decreased snowfall in the Swiss Alps; and unprecedented global media coverage on climate change which has increased public awareness and concern” said Dr. Max Boykoff, James Martin 21st Century School Research Fellow, Environmental Change Institute.
According to The Nielsen Company’s twice-yearly global consumer confidence and major concerns survey, global warming now ranks as the fourth major concern for global consumers behind economy, health, and job security.
“Global warming as a major concern has more than doubled across the world from October 2006 (7%) to April 2007 (16%) with some countries showing three-to-four-fold increases. Even in the US – which registered the lowest percentage of people registering climate change as a major concern six months ago – the percentage concerned has increased from six to thirteen percent,” said Dodd.
Ian Curtis
Communications
Environmental Change Institute,
Office: +44 (0)1865 275849
Ian.curtis@eci.ox.ac.uk
SURVEY SHOWS SURGE IN CONSUMER CONCERN OVER GLOBAL WARMING IN PAST SIX MONTHS:
TWO IN FIVE CONSUMERS WANT GOVERNMENTS TO RESTRICT CARBON DIOXIDE EMISSIONS AND INVEST IN ENVIRONMENTALLY-FRIENDLY SOLUTIONS
June, 5, London, UK --- Ahead of the G8 Summit on Wednesday this week, where climate change is at the top of the agenda, a survey released today by The Nielsen Company and Oxford University’s Environmental Change Institute, has revealed that global concerns about climate change have increased dramatically in the last six months (Figure 1) – and consumers in every region of the world consider it the responsibility of governments to address it (Figure 2).
“Widespread awareness and concern for climate change has reached new heights in the last six months. Politicians and governments must listen to a global consumer ‘call for action’ to save the planet,” said Patrick Dodd, President, ACNielsen Europe.
The survey found two in five (42%) global online consumers believe governments should restrict companies’ emissions of carbon dioxide and other pollutants. Two in five online consumers also said governments should invest in research to find environmentally-friendly and energy-saving solutions. (Figure 2)
“As G8+5 leaders meet at this crucial moment, they should be aware of how alarmed people are about the possibility of a future with an unstable climate, and their consensus that governments must lead the way with tough regulations, research and initiatives,” said Professor Timmons Roberts, James Martin 21st Century School Visiting Professor, Environmental Change Institute, Oxford University, and Professor of Sociology, College of William and Mary, USA. (Figure 2)
The survey found that consumers globally didn’t think that as individuals, they could make much of a contribution to address climate change. ‘Reducing air travel’ was considered least likely to have an impact. Only three percent globally thought it would help – although this number was highest in the UK and Germany, where there has been considerable media focus recently on this issue. Recent reports have claimed local tourism in Germany is booming as consumers make the eco-friendly choice of holidaying ‘at home’, and a similar trend appears to be taking off in the UK.
“Consumers clearly consider it the responsibility of governments to take action and make the greatest contribution to addressing the problems of climate change,” said Dodd.
The online survey, the largest of its kind to be conducted globally on the topic of climate change was conducted in April 2007 and polled 26,486 internet users across 47 countries in North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East.
“We have not witnessed such a dramatic increase in public attention for climate change since the late 1980s. Among a number of influences in the last six months, there have been reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the Stern Review, coupled with freak weather patterns like floods in southern Africa to decreased snowfall in the Swiss Alps; and unprecedented global media coverage on climate change which has increased public awareness and concern” said Dr. Max Boykoff, James Martin 21st Century School Research Fellow, Environmental Change Institute.
According to The Nielsen Company’s twice-yearly global consumer confidence and major concerns survey, global warming now ranks as the fourth major concern for global consumers behind economy, health, and job security.
“Global warming as a major concern has more than doubled across the world from October 2006 (7%) to April 2007 (16%) with some countries showing three-to-four-fold increases. Even in the US – which registered the lowest percentage of people registering climate change as a major concern six months ago – the percentage concerned has increased from six to thirteen percent,” said Dodd.
Ian Curtis
Communications
Environmental Change Institute,
Office: +44 (0)1865 275849
Ian.curtis@eci.ox.ac.uk
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