Fuelling the biofuels debate

The increasingly acrimonious spat between the EU and the USA over the dumping of subsidised diesel on to the European market, will do neither party, or for that matter the biodiesel industry, any good in the long run.

For those of you who have, so far, missed this particular piece of nonsense let me bring you up to speed. Early last year the effect of a piece of US Federal legislation, enacted in 2004, started to be felt in Europe. The legislation, designed to support the US biodiesel industry, effectively gave a subsidy of about $300/tonne, in the form of tax credits, to a B99.9 blend biodiesel. In other words, a drop of mineral diesel in the tonne of biodiesel produced a huge subsidy.

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Well you have to give it to the New York Times a couple of weeks ago I took severe exception to one of its columnists, Paul Krugman, who had written an appallingly smug piece, “Pointing the finger at biofuels won’t solve the problem“, about the biofuels market. According to Mr Krugman all the evils of the world could be laid squarely at the door of biofuels. In fact, if he were to be believed, we would rather have the four horsemen of the apocalypse trotting down the high street rather than countenance biofuels.

Well this week we have another op/ed columnist at the NY Times, Roger Cohen, whose piece “Bring on the right biofuels” rather neatly offers the other side of the story. In a nutshell he suggests that it is time to ditch the hysteria, look at the science and make positive choices about the biofuels that can help so many. It’s worth a read.

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I found myself on the Food First site (www.foodfirst.org) today reading what is possibly one of the best overviews of the current food crisis I have come across. While, it does get a little conspiratorial half way through the piece, Pouring Fuel on the Food, written by Eric Holt-Giménez, Ph.D. Executive Director, Food First/Institute for Food and Development Policy, highlights the sheer stupidity of international food policy.

But as Dr. Holt-Giménez so rightly points out this crisis has been in the making for decades. While it is convenient to point the finger at biofuels, the international community really does need to get together and do something about it now. Right now!

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There’s nothing quite as smug as an op-ed columnist, who claims the high ground, and currently The New York Times’s Paul Krugman is unbelievably smug. In a column, Grains Gone Wild (read the full piece) published on 7th April Krugman opens up with the platitude; “These days you hear a lot about the world financial crisis. But there’s another world crisis under way — and it’s hurting a lot more people.”

He is, of course, referring to a real and chronic shortage of staple food stuffs around the world. While I may not like his writing style, he is absolutely right. He is also bang on the nose when he suggests that there are a variety of reasons for the problem; “How did this happen? The answer is a combination of long-term trends, bad luck — and bad policy.”

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Perhaps the best example of weak economic and scientific logic at work on this issue is the recent attempt to push for biofuels and ethanol as alternative energy sources which can protect the environment and enhance national energy security in certain markets.

A forthright quote that leaves the reader in no doubt as to the speaker’s position. But who said the words, Greenpeace, Friends of the Eath, George Monbiot…? Well actually none of the above. In fact it was part of a speech (read the full text) given by The Honourable Ali bin Ibrahim Al-Nami, the Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources for Saudi Arabi at the International Oil Summit in Paris last week.

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While there is really nothing to add to the story, I couldn’t let the delightful tale of a man who has been arrested in the USA for allegedly stealing cooking grease from a fast food outlet, go unmentioned here. According to a report on the CBS website (Man Arrested In South Bay Restaurant Grease Heist) the alleged theft was possibly carried out in order to make biofuels with the inedible grease.

Any other pieces of delightful biofuels nonsense are much appreciated at “Fuelling the biofuels debate” just drop them on an email to giles@biofuelreview.com

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Thank goodness for a free and fearless press. Today’s (1st April) Guardian, a national newspaper in the UK, has uncovered the transatlantic splash and dash trade (Demands for crackdown on biofuels scam). The paper considers the story so important that it also gets a piece in the leader/op ed column (An unsustainable scam). Well done The Guardian…or could this be the very same story which Biofuel Review first reported in July last year when the EBB initially raised concerns about the practice (EBB calls for greater support for biodiesel in the EU) or later when the EBB first asked the European Commission to do something about the trade in October (US producers accused of dumping subisdised biodiesel on Europe)?

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According to reports in a variety of news outlets over the weekend Nestle, in the form of its CEO Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, said that planned subsidies for biofuels were irresponsible and immoral and would lead to higher prices for food staples, including maize, soya and wheat (Swiss Info, Nestlé boss warns against promoting biofuels).

Now don’t get me wrong, it’s always good to see large multi nationals taking the leadership role and setting an example for others to follow. However, I might be more impressed if this didn’t seem to be more about Nestle’s profits than an ethical stance on subsidised biofuels. Brabeck-Letmathe was certainly being disingenuous when he linked the subsidies for biofuels as the only reason for higher prices for agricultural products. Previous peaks in wheat prices in 1981, 83 and 95, all of which exceeded today’s price (USDA figures), were not due to biofuels, and did not create a food crisis.

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I was reminded of William Booth’s, founder of the Salvation Army, words (see the headline) during the World Biofuels Markets event in Brussels last week when one despairing industry figure said he was really “pissed off” about the coverage of biofuels in the general media. His frustration was palpable. However, the industry, perhaps lured by the initial warm reception of biofuels by the media, has never really engaged in terms of addressing the publicity deficit.

Talking to several delegates at World Biofuels it became apparent that generally the feeling was that a straight presentation of the facts would in most cases sort out the publicity deficit and that the media balance would be restored. In part, a very small part, they are correct. There is a huge amount of touchy feely ’science’ that is paraded as fact, which does need correcting. But where the industry really looses out in the media game is in the presentation, the spin of the story. In short the tune!
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Apparently Willie Walsh’s accusation that Virgin’s foray into biofuels, (Virgin’s biofuel is a PR stunt says BA boss), was little more than a PR stunt has prompted Sir Richard Branson into a response (British Airways has no environmental strategy - we do), in today’s Guardian. He was scathing about Walsh’s stance. “Sniping from the sidelines is not the answer to climate change. If Walsh, who’s clearly used to being handed solutions on a plate, had his way the industry would go backwards. We need everyone to take action now”, said Branson.

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