This morning I was reminded of George Santayana who had once famously remarked “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it”. I read about General Motors entering in a pact with the Bhavnagar, Gujarat based Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute to develop Jatropha fuel for the USA.
I was and am still appalled..
Over the last decade there has been a lot of hype on bio-fuels being the answer to the fossil fuel crisis and global warming.. In the US there was a mad rush, reminiscent of the stampede into dotcoms, to get into the bio-fuel mainly ethanol from corn business. The US government established laws and in 2007 mandated a five-fold increase in bio-fuels and 200 Ethanol refineries came up all over the USA. The hype hit Europe as well. The European Union has mandated that biofuels should account for 5.75% of transport fuel by 2010. What was safely ignored was the fact that for all of this fuel to come from Europe, one-fifth of the entire European cropped area, would have to shift from food to biofuel crops.
The Bio-fuel lobby quick got on to the global warming lobby claiming that bio-fuels would actually reduce greenhouse gas emission and contribute to reduction in global warming.
It sounded too good to be true….
Then critics started raising their heads…
William Engdahl published a paper The Hidden Agenda behind the Bush Administration’s Bio-fuel Plan saying that “the heart of the plan is a huge, taxpayer-subsidized expansion of use of bio-ethanol for transport fuel…..to make certain it happens, farmers and big agricultural business giants like ADM or David Rockefeller get generous subsidies to grow corn for fuel instead of food.”
Matthew Brown, a prominent Energy Consultant, argued that “replacing only five percent of the nation’s diesel consumption with biodiesel would require diverting approximately 60 percent of soy crops (in the USA) to biodiesel production.”
Even more damaging has been the Cornell University researcher David Pimental conclusion that “There is just no energy benefit to using plant biomass for liquid fuel”. His 2005 study found that producing ethanol from corn required 29 percent more energy than the end product itself is capable of generating. He found similarly troubling numbers in making biodiesel from soybeans.
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology issued a report concluding that using corn-based ethanol instead of gasoline will have no impact on greenhouse gas emissions.
Corn (for ethanol) and soy (for diesel) had sounded to good to be true – THEY WERE!
That was the cue for entry to Jatropa – widely touted as the panacea. Proponents immediately cited its remarkable abilities to adapt to harsh conditions, ease of oil extraction, rural employment generation… A magic wand to get rid of all evils!
That is the sum and substance of what General Motors also says…
Governments in the developing world have bought into this hard sell. I have seen State Governments in India going gung-ho on jatropa. I cannot forget a State government issuing ‘targets’ to the District Collectors for Jatropa plantation! If arms had to be twisted and forest / arable land was to be brought under cultivation, so be it.. Targets had to be met.
NGOs around the world have tried to make policy makers & public aware of the pitfalls. Strange how voices from countries as diverse as Philippines and Swaziland are saying the same thing. Amazing how their governments are ignoring in the same way.
I have been thinking about this for long and finally decided to articulate the questions that have been racing through my mind……… I think something is wrong..
Q1. Why are the policy makers and governments in the developed world taking a step back on all bio-fuels?
Q2. If all this is so good, why is it being hawked as a solution in the developing world only? Why is D1 Oils from the UK promoting it in Swaziland? Why is GM promoting in India? Surely there are badlands in the UK / USA which could do with some bio-fuels like Jatropa being grown there?
Q3. Is it because harvesting requires huge amount of manual labour?
Q4. Is it because no one has come up with a process of extraction of oil on a large scale?
Q5. Is it because the crop is allelopathic and will definitely harm other plants as research across the world shows?
Q6. Is it because good yield will start coming in only 3-5 years after panting?
Q7. Are our policy makers seriously concerned about what is happening and how we are being taken for a ride?
As far as the GM ‘investment’ in India is concerned…
Q8. Is a million dollar investment over 5 years really significant, to either GM or to Gujarat?
Q9. If the fuel is to be used in the US, why is the crop being grown here? Surely that cannot be ‘economical’
Q10. Why do we so readily agree to being guinea pigs? Ah I remember the Gujarat government ‘importing’ pig dung a few years back from Europe. I am sure that the country in question must have been stunned when the deal went through.
At this point I only have a million questions. No real answers. Perhaps some of the NGOs working in India on alternate energy can come up with some solid research backed answers? Something that can encourage public debate and influence policy?
I hope that it happens soon.. Else it will be too late as usual..
Makarand
Hi
Great to hear about how jatropha helps poor farmers! I wondered if you could comment on this article about Jatropha Plantations for Bio Fuel?
http://growjatropha.blogspot.com/2011/03/how-to-plant-jatropha-curcas-for.html
Here is my basic method for refining Crude Jatropha Oil (CJO) Any Comments on this method greatly appreciated!
http://growjatropha.blogspot.com/2011/03/how-to-refine-crude-jatropha-oil-for.html
Warm Regards
Keith
http://www.kentbiofuel.blogspot.com
Hi Keith
At the outset, let me say that I am neither an expert farmer nor an oil extractor. I have gone through both your posts – on growing Jatropha and refining the oil. The process and the outlay reinforce the point i was making – Jatropha does not seem to be viable on any large scale that can help in replacing, to any great degree of effectiveness, fossil fuel. The acreage needed to get a substantial quantity of oil makes it unviable for small holders which most of the farmers in Asia and Africa are. It may be useful in small quantities for household level. To add to the problems, the allelopathic properties of jatropha make it unsuitable for farming considering that the land becomes useless for most other crops. Refer http://biofuelexperts.ning.com/forum/topics/is-jatropha-really-the-miracle for more information.
Hope this was useful.
Makarand
Some more skeletons tumbling out of the bio-fuels cupboard…
A recent report by Friends of Earth, Europe “Losing the plot – the threats to community land and the rural poor through the spread of the biofuel jatropha in India” brings out a clear case against uncontrolled spread of Jatropha.
http://www.foeeurope.org/agrofuels/jatropha_in_india.pdf
A new research released by the European Commission confirms that Europe’s demand for biofuels is likely to contribute to climate change and harm the environment.
http://www.foeeurope.org/press/2010/Mar26_europes_biofuel_policy_unsustainable_research_confirms.html
Adrian Bebb, agrofuels campaign coordinator for Friends of the Earth Europe said: “The EU’s biofuel policy is looking more and more unsustainable and if not urgently reviewed will lead to deforestation, more climate changing emissions and damage to the environment. It is time to end this madness and bring in real solutions to the climate crisis.”
Campaigns against bio-fuels are gaining momentum round the world. That is a welcome development. Now only if policy makers woke up!
Thanks for a detailed view! We have always shown readiness to be guinea pigs for developed nations. And there is a trend in all these cases. Right from Bhopal to Enron to Dow to GM, they kick off with lot of initial debate. If the public voice persists, they take swift turns and postpone / disguise the plans. If the public voice dies or gets distracted soon (which is mostly the case), they keep it going even faster. What we lack is awareness, mass-education, coordination, and strategy to handle such cases. None of the NGO’s have enough influence on the Government to change the course of events. But yes, the Tata’s can influence automobile policy, Bajaj can influence employment reservation policy, Ambani’s can influence telecom policy, and Modi can influence entertainment tax policy. Do you hope to see strong social development activists outnumbering personal development tycoons?