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Forests pay the price for biofuels Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)    http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg18825265.400&feedId=online-news_rss20 http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg18825265.400&feedId=online-news_rss20 Forests paying the price for biofuels 22 November 2005 NewScientist.com news service Fred Pearce THE drive for "green energy" in the developed world is having the perverse effect of encouraging the destruction of tropical rainforests. From the orang-utan reserves of Borneo to the Brazilian Amazon, virgin forest is being razed to grow palm oil and soybeans to fuel cars and power stations in Europe and North America. And surging prices are likely to accelerate the destruction The rush to make energy from vegetable oils is being driven in part by European Union laws requiring conventional fuels to be blended with biofuels, and by subsidies equivalent to 20 pence a litre. Last week, the British government announced a target for biofuels to make up 5 per cent of transport fuels by 2010. The aim is to help meet Kyoto protocol targets for reducing greenhouse-gas emissions. Rising demand for green energy has led to a surge in the international price of palm oil, with potentially damaging consequences. "The expansion of palm oil production is one of the leading causes of rainforest destruction in south-east Asia. It is one of the most environmentally damaging commodities on the planet," says Simon Counsell, director of the UK-based Rainforest Foundation. "Once again it appears we are trying to solve our environmental problems by dumping them in developing countries, where they have devastating effects on local people." The main alternative to palm oil is soybean oil. But soya is the largest single cause of rainforest destruction in the Brazilian Amazon. Supporters of biofuels argue that they can be "carbon neutral" because the CO2 released from burning them is taken up again by the next crop. Interest is greatest for diesel engines, which can run unmodified on vegetable oil, and in Germany bio-diesel production has doubled since 2003. There are also plans for burning palm oil in power stations. Until recently, Europe's small market in biofuels was dominated by home-grown rapeseed (canola) oil. But surging demand from the food market has raised the price of rapeseed oil too. This has led fuel manufacturers to opt for palm and soya oil instead. Palm oil prices jumped 10 per cent in September alone, and are predicted to rise 20 per cent next year, while global demand for biofuels is now rising at 25 per cent a year. Roger Higman, of Friends of the Earth UK, which backs biofuels, says: "We need to ensure that the crops used to make the fuel have been grown in a sustainable way or we will have rainforests cleared for palm oil plantations to make bio-diesel." From issue 2526 of New Scientist magazine, 22 November 2005, page 19

belize Apes jungles { September 4 2002 } Apes will be extinct in a generation { September 1 2005 } Arizona wild fires { June 22 2003 } Arnolds epa pick critical bush healthy forest initiative { November 14 2003 } Arson suspected in most of 10 fires { October 29 2003 } Burning [jpg] Bush says kindling causes forest fires { December 3 2003 } Bush seeks shifts in logging rules { July 13 2004 } Bush to gut roadless rule { June 10 2003 } Cattle grazing causing more extensive rainforest damage { October 21 2005 } Deforestation paves way in brazil { January 8 2005 } Denies natural cycles { May 24 2003 } Ease logging { August 22 2002 } Ethanol will destroy rainforests Excuse to log { June 19 2003 } Federal judge overturns roadless ban Forests pay the price for biofuels Governor says roadless unlawful { August 20 2003 } House passes bill to speed post fire timber sales { May 18 2006 } House passes forest thinning bill { May 20 2003 } In the line of fire Judge roadless accused ethics violation Jungles disappear 30yrs Logging forest fires New forest rules help loggers { December 23 2004 } Non burned undergrowth threat People use 83pc { October 23 2002 } Rainforest destruction { June 25 2001 } Roadless plan upheld San bernardino wild fires { October 26 2003 } Smokey bear revamps fire message Smokey the bear was wrong { August 21 2000 } Wild fires then ice storms { November 14 2003 } Files Listed: 33

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