Can biofuels replace fossil fuels?

For some years now the EU and European governments have seen the attraction of bioenergy as a way of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, diversifying fuel supply, replacing fossil fuels - and providing an alternative source of income for farmers.

Bioenergy, which entails converting plant matter, such as trees, grasses or agricultural crops, into fuel for transport or electricity and heating, has received increased attention from the European Commission. A biomass action plan late last year pledged to double the use of bio-energy sources in EU by 2010. A 2003 biofuels directive had set the specific target of 5.7% by 2010 for the production of energy from sugar, cereals or vegetable oil.

Recent increases in oil prices and threats to the supply of oil and gas have added to the pressure to develop bioenergy as an alternative energy source. The Commission last week extended an energy crop aid scheme to new member states, allowing more farmers to receive €45 per hectare for biofuel crops.

But while some parts of the EU policymaking machinery are rushing to develop biofuels and biomass, there are still questions about whether it is being done in a sustainable way.

During an ongoing review of the limits that can be placed on the bio-ethanol content of petrol, fears have been raised that raising the limit could cause increases in deadly polluting emissions such as nitrogen dioxide.

The emphasis on growing crops to provide alternative energy has increased concern in some quarters that biofuel policy will go in the direction of intensive farming, putting water resources under pressure, demanding large quantities of fertilisers and harming wildlife. Depending on the crops grown for biofuel and the methods needed to convert them into energy, it may be that the overall effect on reducing greenhouse gas emissions will be negligible or negative.

Another draw-back to the claim to sustainability is that biofuels require vast quantities of land. The Worldwatch Institute, an independent environmental research organisation, estimates that meeting 10% of global transport fuel needs would require 9% of the world’s agricultural land.

A report from the European Environmental Agency (EEA) this year on the future potential impact on the environment of the production of biomass and biofuels warns that "greater production of bioenergy could set incentives for a more intense use of agricultural land and forests, and might counteract the objectives of waste reduction policies". It continues: "An increase in bioenergy production thus bears the risk of additional environmental pressures on biodiversity, and soil and water resources."

Reform of agricultural subsidies in the EU and a promise from EU to the World Trade Organization to reduce direct subsidies on food have left the EU looking for alternative ways to provide financial support to farmers. And it could be that biofuels are more attractive to the farm lobby than to the environmentalists. Indeed, it might be that farmers get a better price for devoting crops like sugar beet or oilseed to energy use than they can get for food use. In turn that could raise the price of certain foods. Some crops are not an ­efficient source of biofuel. Research suggests that switching to alternative crops, such as certain grasses, can produce ­biofuels in a more ­sustainable way. A greater emphasis on the use of wood biomass to generate electricity and heat might also better match the desire to meet energy demands in a sustainable way.

"Pressures can be minimised, for example by growing low-impact bioenergy crops and not allowing the ploughing of permanent grasslands or by adapting the intensity of residue extraction to local soil conditions," states the EEA report. "Applying a number of environmental rules and standards seems therefore necessary when increasing bio- energy production."

For some years now the EU and European governments have seen the attraction of bioenergy as a way of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, diversifying fuel supply, replacing fossil fuels - and providing an alternative source of income for farmers.