Biofuels

Jul 09, 2008

Gallagher’s Support of Second Generation Biofuels will Still Compete with Food and will Destroy the World’s Forests  [Review on Biofuels Criticized].

The Global Forest Coalition, a worldwide coalition of environmental NGOs and Indigenous Peoples’ Organizations, welcomes the conclusion by the Renewable Fuels Agency’s Gallagher review that the introduction of biofuels should be significantly slowed until adequate controls to address displacement effects are implemented and are demonstrated to be effective. However, GFC issues a strong warning and caution regarding the Gallagher review’s argument that sustainability criteria and second generation biofuels can help solve the social and environmental problems currently caused by food-based agrofuels. [1]

The review [2], chaired by the UK’s professor Ed Gallagher, is expected to cause Britain and the European Union to rethink their positions on agrofuels, now that it is coming to light that agrofuels derived from food crops are contributing to skyrocketing food prices and world hunger. [3]

“If the Gallagher review triggers a re-examination of EU and British policy, that’s good, but anything less than a complete halt to agrofuel production and government targets, incentives and subsidies which support it, will still have devastating effects on the food crisis, biodiversity and climate change,” stated Almuth Ernsting from the UK’s Biofuelwatch. “Unfortunately, the review does not support such a moratorium. The last thing we need is yet another plea for sustainability standards that are impossible to meet and completely fail to address the many indirect impacts of agrofuel production. Even worse, the Gallagher review sides with many Members of the European Parliament, suggesting that the problems with agrofuels can be avoided with so-called ‘second generation agrofuels’.”


Ronnie Hall





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