Today the European Environment Agency’s (EEA) Scientific Committee recommended suspending the EUs target for 10% biofuel usage by 2020, due to concerns that first-generation biofuels (those made from food crops) are environmentally unsound.
Back in 2003, the EU established a Biofuel Directive aimed at replacing 2% of vehicle fuel by 2005, and 5.75% by 2010. The 2005 goal wasn’t met, and despite uncertainty that the EU could even reach the 2010 targets, an ambitious goal of replacing 10% of total fuel usage by 2020 was put in place last year.
Now the EEA isn’t sure that’s such a good idea, and recommended the target be suspended until a new, comprehensive scientific study on the environmental risks and benefits of biofuels can be completed. The EEA expressed the following concerns:
* Producing biodiesel or ethanol out of plant material is not the most efficient or environmentally friendly use of biomass when compared to heat or electricity generation.
* Biomass is a finite resource, and using it should be matched with energy efficiency improvements in automobiles (and residential areas).
* The EEA estimated that the land required to meet the 10% target exceeds the amount of arable land available, even with substantial input by second-generation (non-food) feedstocks. Increasing land use will increase pressure on soil, water, and biodiversity.
* Meeting the target would require importing large amounts of biofuels, which could contribute to the accelerating destruction of rain forests in less developed countries.
Europe has been struggling with biofuel policies for some time now. Mandating biofuel targets without having sustainability filters in place may boost industry, but it won’t protect the land. The US is also struggling with biofuel policies and their impacts. See the related links for more:
Monday, April 14, 2008
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Investor puts his money into the rainforest
Investor puts his money into the rainforest
* 18:38 27 March 2008
It is either a visionary piece of capitalism or throwing money into the wind. A venture capitalist today made a huge environmental bet – that one day the environment services that sustainable forests provide will be worth big money.
The Iwokrama reserve in Guyana is a 371,000 hectare chunk of tropical forest – roughly the size of Majorca – and is a successful experiment in sustainable forest management.
Hylton Murray-Philipson, director of the UK-based financiers Canopy Capital, has signed a deal with Iwokrama guaranteeing a "meaningful" contribution to their running costs for five years, a deal which may be renewed.
In return for these funds, Canopy Capital is given "ownership" of the forest's ecosystems services and a claim on any profits that might one day be made from them.
Zero deforestation
The value of the deal is undisclosed, but it is unprecedented. Murray-Philipson describes it as "creating wealth that is worth having".
Iwokrama is home to the same level of biodiversity as the neighbouring Brazilian Amazon but, unlike the Amazon, it is not disappearing. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, between 2000 and 2005 the rate of deforestation in Guyana was 0%.
Logging in Guyana is selective, with only 35 of more than 1000 tree species logged commercially. The Iwokrama reserve itself operates a low level of logging equivalent of one tree per hectare each year on just half of its total surface.
Guyana's pristine forests as yet have no financial value. But they seed rain that irrigates farmlands as far away as the American Midwest, house thousands of species of plants and animals, including many rare ones, and store tonnes of carbon.
Unknown value
In November 2007, Guyana's president put his forests up for adoption in exchange for development aid. "What else has Guyana got to offer the global economy?" asks Murray-Philipson.
The trouble is, because of Guyana's excellent track record in forest conservation, no-one else seems to think the forests have any value.
"Let's not be idiots about these ecosystem services," says Niki Mardas of the Global Canopy Programme, "humans are getting a free ride." Mardas's organisation is a partner in the Canopy Capital deal and will receive 20% of any returns on the firm's investment.
Murray-Philipson reckons the forests are worth about $20 per hectare, although he admits he may never see a penny of return on his investment. He says the price tag is considerably less than what some companies are considering paying to store carbon under the sea.
'Winds of change'
Worked out in terms of carbon storage – the only ecosystem service to have some sort of value at the moment – it comes to $0.20 per tonne. Meanwhile, he notes that oil giant BP is looking at spending $50 to $60 a tonne on pumping carbon into disused oil fields in the North Sea.
"The winds of change have to blow through the canopy," Murray-Philipson says. "If I am wrong, we have a write-off, but at least we have tried to do something to change the paradigm of how man relates to nature."
"Rewarding people for good management is intrinsically more palatable than REDD [Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation] which rewards people for addressing a situation out of control," says Duncan MacQueen, a forestry expert at the Institute for Environment and Development in London, referring to a UN programme that was launched at the climate change summit in Bali, Indonesia, last December.
REDD aims to pay countries to reduce deforestation. The details need to be ironed out and the final agreement is not expected until 2009, but it looks unlikely that REDD will reward countries, like Guyana, that have a long-standing record for conserving their forests.
* 18:38 27 March 2008
It is either a visionary piece of capitalism or throwing money into the wind. A venture capitalist today made a huge environmental bet – that one day the environment services that sustainable forests provide will be worth big money.
The Iwokrama reserve in Guyana is a 371,000 hectare chunk of tropical forest – roughly the size of Majorca – and is a successful experiment in sustainable forest management.
Hylton Murray-Philipson, director of the UK-based financiers Canopy Capital, has signed a deal with Iwokrama guaranteeing a "meaningful" contribution to their running costs for five years, a deal which may be renewed.
In return for these funds, Canopy Capital is given "ownership" of the forest's ecosystems services and a claim on any profits that might one day be made from them.
Zero deforestation
The value of the deal is undisclosed, but it is unprecedented. Murray-Philipson describes it as "creating wealth that is worth having".
Iwokrama is home to the same level of biodiversity as the neighbouring Brazilian Amazon but, unlike the Amazon, it is not disappearing. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, between 2000 and 2005 the rate of deforestation in Guyana was 0%.
Logging in Guyana is selective, with only 35 of more than 1000 tree species logged commercially. The Iwokrama reserve itself operates a low level of logging equivalent of one tree per hectare each year on just half of its total surface.
Guyana's pristine forests as yet have no financial value. But they seed rain that irrigates farmlands as far away as the American Midwest, house thousands of species of plants and animals, including many rare ones, and store tonnes of carbon.
Unknown value
In November 2007, Guyana's president put his forests up for adoption in exchange for development aid. "What else has Guyana got to offer the global economy?" asks Murray-Philipson.
The trouble is, because of Guyana's excellent track record in forest conservation, no-one else seems to think the forests have any value.
"Let's not be idiots about these ecosystem services," says Niki Mardas of the Global Canopy Programme, "humans are getting a free ride." Mardas's organisation is a partner in the Canopy Capital deal and will receive 20% of any returns on the firm's investment.
Murray-Philipson reckons the forests are worth about $20 per hectare, although he admits he may never see a penny of return on his investment. He says the price tag is considerably less than what some companies are considering paying to store carbon under the sea.
'Winds of change'
Worked out in terms of carbon storage – the only ecosystem service to have some sort of value at the moment – it comes to $0.20 per tonne. Meanwhile, he notes that oil giant BP is looking at spending $50 to $60 a tonne on pumping carbon into disused oil fields in the North Sea.
"The winds of change have to blow through the canopy," Murray-Philipson says. "If I am wrong, we have a write-off, but at least we have tried to do something to change the paradigm of how man relates to nature."
"Rewarding people for good management is intrinsically more palatable than REDD [Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation] which rewards people for addressing a situation out of control," says Duncan MacQueen, a forestry expert at the Institute for Environment and Development in London, referring to a UN programme that was launched at the climate change summit in Bali, Indonesia, last December.
REDD aims to pay countries to reduce deforestation. The details need to be ironed out and the final agreement is not expected until 2009, but it looks unlikely that REDD will reward countries, like Guyana, that have a long-standing record for conserving their forests.
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