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4 December 1991
Doc. 6536
Report
on agriculture's contribution to enhancing energy security and saving the global environment
(Rapporteur: Mr SCHEER, Germany, SPD)
Problem
The increasing use of fossil fuels to satisfy the world's energy supply has led to important pollution problems. The energy dependency of many countries on external sources of fossil fuels have on several occasions seriously threatened or affected the economic stability of these countries with important negative consequences for employment.
European agriculture is increasingly confronted with a problem of food surpluses. This has led to imbalances on world food markets and heavy burdens on national budgets for subsidies to the agricultural sector without any significant improvement of the economic situation of most farmers. The consequences have been an abandonment of farms and an exodus from rural regions.
Solutions
The use of agricultural land for the cultivation of biomass for energy and raw materials for industry as well as for the installation of small-scale windmills and energy production from organic waste would:
- reduce, and in the longer term possibly eliminate, the contamination of soil and the pollution of air and water stemming from the burning of fossil fuels;
- increase energy security in Europe as well as in many developing countries with positive effects on the economies and on employment;
- give a new production task to agriculture and in an important way contribute to the revival of the countryside, to an increase in rural employment and to the development of a new clean industry;
- reduce agricultural subsidies and strengthen farmers' income.
The large-scale use of biomass in a renewable energy strategy is of particular importance because it can replace fossil fuels and be introduced faster on the market than other renewable energies, the use of which is mostly confined to electricity production.
I. DRAFT RESOLUTION
1. The Assembly is seriously concerned that the global environment, the atmosphere, the earth's water resources, its forests and soil are increasingly being damaged by pollution resulting from the extraction, transport and burning of fossil fuels.
2. It is equally concerned at the important food surpluses and world trade imbalances in agricultural products at a high cost to taxpayers, while at the same time the overall economic situation of farmers has not improved, hence causing rural regions to be abandoned.
3. Recalling its Recommendation 1092 (1989), it reiterates that the use of agricultural land for the production of biomass for the energy sector would have a positive effect on rural employment and farmers' incomes, would reduce food surpluses and the need for subsidies, as well as related imbalances on the world food markets, would increase energy autonomy and security, and would reduce the problems caused by the use of fossil fuels.
4. Consequently, and after having studied the potential of biomass and wind energy for clean and renewable energy production, the Assembly calls on the governments of member states and the European Community:
i. to favour biomass cultivation and its use for energy production through policy reforms affecting all relevant sectors; to re-orient the European Community's Common Agricultural Policy and national subsidy policies from price and income support to short-term temporary assistance designed to implement the necessary transformation and investment measures in the agricultural sector for the production of bio-energy; for this production use agricultural wastes as well as fast growing energy plants so selected that they have little or no fertiliser needs, require a minimum of water, can be cultivated on poor soil, and absorb a maximum CO2 (C4 plants);
ii. to give priority to international co-operation in research and development and to the market introduction of bio-energy technology and allocate the necessary resources for promoting the wide scale use of bio-energy;
iii. to give priority to public sector use of bio- and other renewable energies and to set up pilot projects for this purpose;
iv. to achieve a large-scale production of energy from renewable biomass resources within ten years by favouring the use of clean energies through appropriate tax and subsidy policies;
v. to increase public awareness through information campaigns on the advantages of the wide-scale use of biomass and other renewable energies for the agricultural sector and for society as a whole.
II. EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
by Mr Scheer
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
A. INTRODUCTION 4
B. THE USE OF RENEWABLE ENERGIES IS DICTATED
BY NATURE 4
C. SUSTAINABLE USE OF BIOMASS TOGETHER WITH OTHER
RENEWABLE ENERGIES WILL SAVE THE
ENVIRONMENT 5
D. BIOMASS - A DIVERSIFIED RAW MATERIAL FOR
ENERGY AND INDUSTRY 6
E. HIGHEST PRIORITY MUST BE GIVEN TO SUSTAINABLE
ENERGY TECHNOLOGY 6
F. POLITICAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR ENERGY
SOLUTIONS 7
G. THE NEED TO INTEGRATE AGRICULTURAL AND ENERGY
POLICIES 8
H. WIND AND WATER 8
I. ADDITIONAL ADVANTAGES OF INTRODUCING
BIO-ENERGY 9
J. THE INFORMATION DEFICIT HAMPERING ALTERNATIVE
DEVELOPMENT 10
A. INTRODUCTION
1. Over the years the work of the Committee on Agriculture of the Parliamentary Assembly has anticipated important developments in European agriculture. The Committee has in this way been able to give new political signals not only for the reform of agricultural policies, but also for rural development, energy, industrial and environmental policies. The Hearing on "agriculture's contribution to enhancing energy security" organised by the committee in Rome on 7 May 1991, also clearly showed that the use of biomass for energy production, although fundamentally linked to agriculture, has a global character - as is the case for so many important issues in present-day society.
B. THE USE OF RENEWABLE ENERGIES IS DICTATED BY NATURE
2. The Hearing made it perfectly clear that policies dealing with comprehensive global challenges can no longer be conceived without due consideration to the laws of nature. Policies which neglect or pay little attention to the laws of natural sciences will inevitably fail to reach their objectives. The global challenge facing us can be made perfectly understandable by referring to the first and second laws of thermo-dynamics. In popular terms the first law of thermo-dynamics states that energy cannot be manufactured or destroyed. Energy can only be transformed from one form to another.
3. The second law of thermo-dynamics says, somewhat simplified, that by each energy transformation there will be an entropy increase, in other words a loss will occur and the general physical term for this loss is heat. This heat emission will eventually lead to the earth succumbing a "heat death", the so-called entropy. The question is only when this point in time will come.
4. These laws of thermo-dynamics of course also apply to renewable energies and to biomass. In this case, however, the fundamental difference, as compared with for example fossil fuels, must be understood, namely the fact that no additional heat in global terms is produced. The production of biomass consumes radiation energy coming into the atmosphere from the sun and biomass is only an intermediate user of this energy. The production and sustainable use of biomass also helps maintain a natural stability of the earth's climate and of life on earth. In other words: we can get additional "net" energy from the sun and at the same time avoid entropy.
5. The difference between inefficient and efficient use of renewable energies has so far mainly been considered in economic terms with little or no emphasis given to social costs and environmental degradation caused by some of these energies. The difference in approach of treating this question will decide the possibility and speed of introducing renewable energies. The pace at which renewable energies will be introduced is of fundamental importance, since humanity is facing the problem of satisfying the necessary energy needs for survival. The increasing world population means an increasing number of energy consumers which negatively compensate any gains resulting from the introduction of energy saving measures. The increased use of conventional energies, including nuclear energies, will only increase heat emissions and pollution and the only valid alternative is therefore a rapid introduction and large-scale use of renewable energie.
C. SUSTAINABLE USE OF BIOMASS TOGETHER WITH OTHER RENEWABLE ENERGIES WILL SAVE THE ENVIRONMENT
6. The Hearing showed that biomass could and should constitute a considerable part of our energy supply on condition that it was grown and used in a sustainable way. But there are several negative examples of uses of biomass for energy production. This can often result from people's absolute need for energy and the non-availability of other renewable or non-renewable sources of energy. A terrifying example is the senseless destruction of the tropical forests. This can be qualified as a robbery since future generations will be deprived of this resource. Such uses of biomass lead to a destruction of the resource potential itself and can therefore not be accepted as a sustainable use of an energy resource, nor as a renewable energy utilisation.
7. It should be stressed that biomass' contribution to global warming is a false problem. The CO2 emissions resulting from the use of biomass, including agricultural waste, will in all cases be reabsorbed from the atmosphere by growing plants. The carbon cycle is a natural process which will not lead to any increase in CO2 in the atmosphere since plants use the same amount of CO2 for their growth as is later emitted into the air when they are used for energy or other purposes or simply left to rot. CO2 represents roughly 50% of the greenhouse gasses and methane (CH4) another 20%, but methane is about 200 times more climate-active than CO2. The burning of CH4, stemming from manure, rice production or other wastes for energy production would therefore contribute to halting climatic change. This is another example of the importance of a better understanding of the natural sciences for the improvement of policy-making.
8. Biomass as a renewable source of energy has the potential of being more rapidly introduced for the replacement of a considerable part of the non-renewable sector of our energy supply than other renewable energies, such as wind energy of photovoltaic energy. At present in the Steiermark region of Austria, energy needs are covered for 14% by biomass. We may presume that this should also be possible for the rest of Europe. It was even been shown during the Rome Hearing that 20-25% of the energy supply in the European Community could come from biomass by the year 2005. South Africa could be a particularly interesting case study because of its large-scale production of bio-energy during the trade blockade of that country.
9. Comparing these facts with the largely unsuccessful efforts by governments to reduce CO2 emissions - stemming from the use of fossil fuels - by 25% before the year 2010, it becomes evident that the rapid introduction of biomass would make a considerable contribution to the solution of this CO2 problem.
10. Biomass also has another advantage over renewable sources of energy by constituting a continuous as well as a natural source of energy. An argument often used against renewable energies has been that these natural energy resources are non-continuous - ie there exist for example a day and night difference for solar energy and seasonable variations for both wind and solar energy. These seasonal or daily variations must be compensated for since the energy supply must be a continuous and stable one. The biomass contribution alone as a continuous source of energy in a well established energy supply mix including other renewable sources would solve this problem. The constitution of a diversified renewable energy supply would safeguard an environmentally harmless energy provision.
D. BIOMASS - A DIVERSIFIED RAW MATERIAL FOR ENERGY AND INDUSTRY
11. The Rome Hearing showed that there exists an almost unlimited variety of possibilities of using biomass for energy production. This represents a major difference in comparison to other renewable energy sources. Two examples of the use of agricultural waste can illustrate the enormous possibilities offered by biomass for energy production. The Hearing showed that a normal European farm produces enough waste to be self-sufficient in energy terms, and it could even produce electricity for sale to the public electricity grid. The charcoal presently used in the iron and steel industry in the Philippines, and which is produced by the destruction of precious tropical forests, could be entirely replaced by using the organic waste from rice production ie the processing of rice husk into brickets. Such production would also be cheaper than the present use of tropical wood. The biological waste resources which could be used for energy production also include organic wastes from the kitchen and from the garden, human waste and animal waste, verdure and much more. The use of this already existing resource is basically a question of organisation, planning, intelligent economic management and fantasy.
12. The cultivated biomass is an additional resource and it should be underlined that this biomass has a user potential which goes far beyond the energy sector. It can be used for the production of chemicals, pulp and paper, packaging materials, building materials etc. Each specific use will necessitate a careful and systematic selection of plant species to be cultivated as raw materials and this selection process should also include ecological selection criteria. For energy purposes plants with high energy yields, that can be cultivated even on poor soil, with low fertiliser and water needs and a maximum consumption of CO2 (so called C4 plants) should be chosen. The development in this field is only at an initial stage and much more research and development work will be needed, in particular for plant selection and the development of new plants through the use of bio-technology.
13. Another important research and development task is to set up demonstration plants available to potential users and to assist in the market introduction process.
E. HIGHEST PRIORITY MUST BE GIVEN TO SUSTAINABLE ENERGY TECHNOLOGY
14. It is not true that a technology can only be introduced on the market once it has been brought to perfection through extensive research and development work. Cars with the technology standards of the 1950s would not have been allowed for production today since they would not have met the perfection level required, although cars have been mass produced since the 1920s. There is no experience indicating that the maturation of a technology can be reached only through research and development work. On the contrary, the continuous perfection of a technology can only be achieved through its introduction on the market and the taking into account in the development work of the feedback resulting from the experiences of its practical uses. This is why automobiles continue to be improved, but with the implication that each car company invests approximately 2 thousand million ECUs for each new model which is planned to be produced no longer than 8 to 10 years.
15. It is deplorable that the world community of states has still not been capable of making a similar sum available for research and development regarding the use of biomass for energy production. This is a perfect illustration of how false the present setting of priorities is. It is frightening to consider the number of sectors where investments of thousands of millions of ECUs are made without any economic consideration on return on investment, whereas in other sectors of importance for the survival of humanity the strictest economic rules on profitability or the monetary return on investment are required. The military sector was mentioned during the Hearing, but non-military space research and development can also serve to illustrate this point. The public spending of taxpayers' money in Europe is in the latter case about 10 times bigger than the total sum spent on research, development and promotion of renewable energy technology - although it is commonly agreed that our main problems are to be found on earth and not in space.
F. POLITICAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR ENERGY SOLUTIONS
16. The argument that market forces should apply to the energy sector can both be valid and false. It is valid for the consumers as long as they are given alternatives. They would then be able to choose the cheapest energy - even when this alternative has negative effects on the environment - instead of the more expensive one which may be an environmentally-friendly alternative. In this case the consumer refuses a personal responsibility for a problem of importance to society as a whole. He may ask why society cannot set rules which would apply to all citizens for the preservation of a clean environment. The market price should include environmental costs. This would immediately give an advantage to renewable energies compared with conventional ones.
17. The state and respectively the political authorities, must use other criteria and could choose other priorities. Their choices could affect in an important way priority areas in research and development as well as the market introduction of selected energy systems. The exemption from taxes for bio-fuels was mentioned as an example throughout the Rome Hearing. The public sector in its choice of an energy system to satisfy its own needs could as an energy user significantly contribute to technological change and development. It represents in itself an important market for new clean energy systems and must therefore assume its responsibility for the promotion of environmentally-friendly and sustainable energy solutions. This responsibility should also extend to the agricultural sector.
G. THE NEED TO INTEGRATE AGRICULTURAL AND ENERGY POLICIES
18. The present agricultural policy in the European Community involves on a long-term basis some 80,000 million ECUs of tax-payers' money in agricultural subsidies (30,000 million ECUs in the Community budget and another 50,000 million ECUs from member states - and these sums are rapidly increasing). These subsidies have created the present structural problems in European agriculture and they represent a heavy burden on respective governments and the Community's budget. In addition, they rarely reach those for whom they were established to the extent intended. This is a political challenge which needs to be dealt with because of the enormous sums involved. The aim must be a gradual reduction of the subsidies which could be achieved by changing their use towards the promotion of an alternative and competitive exploitation of the agricultural production potential. The use of subsidies as initial investments in such new production areas as biomass would also result in the building up of new production structures and in the creation of new employment. Initial subsidies for biomass production is a future-oriented approach and would give a better rate of return for producers as well as for society and it would benefit consumers.
19. The ongoing GATT negotiations should also take the energy potential of agriculture into account. Increased bio-energy production in the industrialised richer countries would eliminate food surpluses and facilitate imports of food products from developing countries as well as from the new democracies of Central and Eastern Europe. These countries in turn should receive assistance through appropriate technology transfer for their own bio- and renewable energy development programmes. The globe would in this way take an important step towards preserving the environment and making agriculture a viable economic sector in the North as well as in the South.
20. A particularly worrying development is the sectorial approach to policy making. The energy politician and the agricultural policy-maker do not work in coordination and the ensuing result is often in complete contradiction. This reality must be changed. The creation of a Single European Market will make energy a commodity which can be traded across present borders as in the case of any other commodity. The discussions underway so far have only considered energy production costs in the traditional sense which is not sufficient for the drawing up of a sustainable energy management policy at European level.
H. WIND AND WATER
21. A difersified use of agricultural land for energy production can also include, as is the case in Denmark, the creation of wind-energy cooperatives. Some seventy farmers on the West coast of Jylland have, for example, built 27 windmills with an average capacity each of 800 thousand kWh per year. Each mill requires only 10 m2 of land and covers the electricity needs of 200 homes. Each mill last year delivered electricity to the public electricity grid in addition to covering the farms' own needs. At an energy price of 60 Ore per kWh this will result in an energy economy for each farmer of 480 thousand Dkr per year thus allowing for a relatively rapid repayment of the necessary investment costs of about 2 million Dkr. Energy production also contributes in an important way to guarantee the long-term viability of the farm without affecting the normal agricultural production. According to the Euopean Wind Energy Atlas, wind energy production is particularly relevant in coastal and mountain regions.
22. The use of small hydro-power stations should also be reassessed in view of their important technological improvements during recent years. Europe has thousands of watercourses which could be exploited for energy production in this way.
23. The promotion of renewable energies (sun, wind, water, biomass) has recently been introduced in Germany by fixing a guarantee price of 16.7 pfennigs per kWh for such energies. This means that energy from biomass (biogass plants), water (small hydropower stations) and wind (windmills) can be economically produced, a fact that should in particular attract farmers to enter this new energy business. The price for electricity from renewable energy sources in Italy was fixed at the beginning of 1991 at about 200 lira per kWH (about 1/4 more than in Germany).
I. ADDITIONAL ADVANTAGES OF INTRODUCING BIO-ENERGY
24. The Rome Hearing disclosed an important number of advantages which would result from using biomass for energy production in addition to its contribution to a renewable energy supply and to a sensible use of the agricultural production potential. It would maintain agricultural production structures and improve the income situation of farmers and the agricultural sector. It would lead to the building up of new industrial plants in rural regions and thus in the creation of new employment, of fundamental importance for the preservation of a living countryside. It would result in improvements of soil and water protection measures in addition to other positive environmental effects such as the reduction of oil spills due to a reduction in the transportation of oil. It would reduce the energy dependency on foreign sources for the countries implementing this new strategy - an important factor for Europe with its high dependency on external energy supply. Biomass is a local source of energy and would therefore also lead to balance of payment advantages in addition to increased energy security which would be of strategic and political importance.
25. Last but not least, the use of biomass for energy production would be an example for other parts of the world - both the Third World and parts of Central and Eastern Europe. These countries, when copying an energy technology which the Rome Hearing concluded should be abandoned, will always have the disadvantage of lagging ten years behind in their development in addition to other structural drawbacks. If, on the other hand, they would wish to introduce renewable energies, they will evidently hesitate to do so if Western Europe does not show readiness to change. The same countries may also develop a suspicion that the West does not wish to share this new technology through cooperation aimed at finding a solution to a common problem.
J. THE INFORMATION DEFICIT HAMPERING ALTERNATIVE DEVELOPMENT
26. Present development in the world is leading society into an ever increasing conflict with the environment. Business as well as political decisions are not adequately taking the environmental problems into account. One important reason for this is the ignorance among the general public, politicians and decision-makers of the theoretical and practical possibilities for alternative developments. The Rome Hearing endeavoured to diminish this information deficit. But it is necessary to communicate the findings of the Hearing to a wider audience and to go far beyond the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe for the creation of a political awareness on the advantages and possibilities of using biomass for energy production.
27. Such an initiating role has always been a particular strength of the Council of Europe with its few formal decision-making possibilities. The Assembly can in this way enrich the political debate, formulate and recommend politically realistic measures for alternative developments in the energy, environmental and agricultural field. It is our responsibility as politicians to reassess present energy, environmental and agricultural policies. The aim of the Hearing was to contribute to this process.
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Reporting committee: Committee on Agriculture.
Budgetary implications for the Assembly: None.
Reference to committee: Doc. 6340 and Reference No. 1710 of 28 January 1991.
Draft resolution: Unanimously adopted by the committee on 22 November 1991.
Members of the committee: Mr Lanner (Chairman), Mrs Gjørv (Vice-Chairman), Lord Kinnoull (Vice-Chairman), MM Anderko, Anthopoulos, Mrs Anttila, MM Atasever, Bühler, Cauwenberghs, Crowley, Dame Peggy Fenner, MM Filetti, Garrett, Goerens, Greco, Grove, Gunnarsson, Mrs Håvik, MM Jeambrun, Lagorce, van der Linden, Mezzapesa, Michels, Pedregosa (Alternate: Diaz de Mera), Portelli, Roger (Alternate: Hunault), Scheer, Seiler, Sipos, Soares Costa.
NB: The names of those members who took part in the vote are underlined.
Secretary to the committee: Mr Lervik.