The Dark Side of Ethanol

As the use of biofuels increases, side effects are beginning to emerge. Already in some circles there is the fear that diversion of food crops for biofuels will result in food shortages or, at least, an increase in the cost of food.

Mexican President Felipe Calderón [to] recently veto[ed] a law meant to boost Mexico's biofuels sector, on the grounds it gives too much emphasis to corn and sugarcane production. And the UN has called for a moratorium on "first generation" biofuels---that is, those created directly from biological material (food) as opposed to using discarded or waste material like cellulosic ethanol, which is from waste wood chips.

Add another potential woe: destruction of wildlife habitats resulting in faster extinction of animal species. This from the Guardian says that "twenty-five primate species are about to disappear", including apes and gorillas, from a report commissioned by three leading conservation charities:

"You could fit all the surviving members of these 25 species in a single football stadium -- that's how few of them remain on earth today," said Russell Mittermeier, president of U.S.-based environmental group Conservation International.

Common problems are habitat loss due to logging for timber or oil and mineral extraction, plus bushmeat hunting. The two issues are related because roads cut through tropical forests for logging trucks help give hunters easier routes to wildlife. "Every additional access to remove areas increases the access to hunters," Dr [Eckhard] Heymann [one of the report's authors] added.

Another problem is habitat destruction to make space for biofuel plantations such as oil palm. Developed economies such as the US and Europe are pledging to use more sustainable energy sources to combat climate change, but this is having a knock-on effect on tropical wildlife. "It is creating a huge market and now in several countries politicians are thinking of converting tropical forest areas to palm plantations," he said.