Print
See related documents
Resolution 1667 (2009)
Growing food and fuel
1. In the context
of diminishing sources of fossil fuels and the alarming consequences
of climate change, the production of agrofuels appeared to be a
miracle solution.
2. However, their increasing use, while helping to cut energy
dependence and fossil fuel consumption, has begun to create problems
of another kind. It is a fact that the allocation of land, formerly
used to produce foodstuffs, to the cultivation of crops for agrofuels
has not only had damaging consequences for food production but has
also raised doubts as to whether they really help to preserve the
environment.
3. Moreover, studies have shown that agrofuels quite often produce
more greenhouse gas emissions than the fossil fuels they are replacing,
if we take all the factors in their production chain into account.
4. Deforestation and changes in land use trigger the release
of large quantities of previously stored CO2. In
addition, there are the gas emissions resulting from the production,
transformation and transportation of agrofuels, as well as from
the deployment of technologies using oil derivatives and other greenhouse
gas-emitting components.
5. Some studies suggest that the climate would be more effectively
protected by conserving or restoring forests and grasslands rather
than developing crops for agrofuel production. Reforestation would
make it possible to capture between two and nine times more CO2 over
a period of thirty years than would be saved in terms of emissions
through the use of agrofuels over that period.
6. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-ordination and
Development (OECD), agrofuels would help to reduce CO2 emissions
by only 3% at best, at a cost of €360 per tonne of CO2 saved.
7. The development of agrofuels is therefore highly controversial
from an energy balance perspective. In fact, more oil is sometimes
needed to manufacture agrofuels.
8. In terms of foodstuffs, it is estimated that the quantity
of cereal needed to fill a lorry's tank with agrofuel could feed
one person for a whole year. According to Food and Agriculture Organization
(FAO) estimates, 10% of the overall price increase in the food sector
is due to agrofuels, while the International Monetary Fund (IMF) puts
forward a figure of 30%. The World Bank puts this percentage at
around 75%.
9. A study by Stanford University has shown that agrofuels also
have harmful effects on health. The use of ethanol could well cause
a considerably greater public health problem than the present pathologies
linked to hydrocarbon pollution. Ethanol combustion engines increase
the amounts of ozone toxicity in the air, particularly in cities
already affected by pollution.
10. A supplementary danger linked to the development of agrofuels
is the introduction of invasive alien plant species, which, if spread
outside the cultivation fields, become a main cause of biodiversity
loss.
11. The Parliamentary Assembly was surprised that the European
Commission had chosen to give its strong backing to the development
of agrofuels despite the alarm bells rung by scientists, farmers
and environmental activists. It was all the more surprised that
the European Commission stressed that agrofuels had only a negligible
influence on rising foodstuff prices and had set a target of 10%
for agrofuels by the year 2020.
12. The Assembly welcomes the fact that the European Commission
reconsidered its position in July 2008, emphasising that its targets
did not in fact include any specific obligation as to the use of
agrofuels, but related to renewable energy sources in general.
13. The Assembly believes it is desirable for Council of Europe
member and non-member states, as well as the European Commission
and the other international organisations concerned, to commit themselves
without delay to an effort to find a compromise solution between
the world's fuel needs (especially in wealthy countries) and foodstuff
needs (especially in poor countries).
14. For these reasons the Assembly invites the governments of
Council of Europe member states and observer countries and all the
international organisations concerned to consider agrofuels as one
of the key elements in their policies for renewable energies and,
while doing this:
14.1. take better
account, in the framing of their energy and agriculture policies,
of the damaging effects on the environment, agriculture and food
if the development of agrofuels is taken too far, notably in the light
of the resolution on the proposal for a directive of the European
Parliament and of the Council on the promotion of the use of energy
from renewable resources as approved by the European Parliament on
17 December 2008;
14.2. learn from both the positive and negative aspects of past
experiences, since even a successful model cannot be identically
replicated without taking local realities into account;
14.3. phase out over a period of time all financial incentives
granted to the producers of agrofuels and step up free trade in
both agrofuels and the raw materials used to manufacture them;
14.4. ensure that any agrofuels imported are produced in full
respect of the sustainability criteria and the relevant International
Labour Organization conventions;
14.5. ensure that invasive alien plant species, if used for
agrofuel production, do not spread outside the cultivation fields,
mainly by reducing the chance of seed dispersal;
14.6. encourage more strongly investment in research and development
in the area of second and next generation agrofuels, whilst clearly
classifying agrofuel generations by their performance in terms of resource
use, environmental impact and greenhouse gas emissions;
14.7. support research into algae-based agrofuels;
14.8. encourage the construction of bio-refineries capable of
manufacturing a whole range of products, not limited to agrofuels;
14.9. study in greater depth all the possibilities on offer
from alternative energy sources, in order to generate electricity
more cheaply;
14.10. emphasise the development of policies aimed at reducing
energy demand and greenhouse gas emissions, inter
alia, by encouraging the development of vehicles which
are both less polluting and more energy efficient, particularly
in the light of the European Parliament and Council’s Directive 2006/32/EC on energy end-use efficiency and energy services,
which should be further strengthened;
14.11. encourage the recovery of the many hidden inventions that
lie dormant in the European and national patent offices, the current
financial crisis presenting an opportunity to provide inventors
and developers with start-up capital, thus stimulating an innovative
economy and creating new jobs.