news/updates
Ethanol Alliance answers concerns over biofuels' impact on food supply
By Paul Anthony A. Isla
BusinessMirror
January 25, 2008
ALLAYING fears that biofuels production will threaten food supply and rainforests, ethanol advocacy group Philippine Fuel Ethanol Alliance (Ethanol Alliance) said Thursday that alternative feedstock and alternative technologies related to biofuels production must be explored and funded.
In a statement, Ethanol Alliance pointed out there's still so much room for improvement even though the technology for biofuels production is already mature.
In producing biofuels, Ethanol Alliance said a number of feedstock or raw agricultural input options are available.
For instance, the group cited, palm oil and soybeans are just two of the traditional feedstock for biodiesel production, and that technology for other, nontraditional, nonfood agricultural crops for biofuels production, however, is also being developed.
In the case of nonfood crops as jatropha and sweet sorghum for biodiesel and ethanol, respectively, Ethanol Alliance said jatropha can be grown on idle lands, and sweet sorghum can be planted in existing sugar-cane lands during the “off-crop” period.
Ethanol Alliance said this presents a challenge and opportunity for farmers to implement integrated farming techniques to maximize land use considering soil quality and climate factors.
While it is true that there is only so much land available for crop-based biofuels production, Ethanol Alliance said that this concern only applies to traditional feedstock.
Alternative feedstock options, according to the Ethanol Alliance, have been the focus of extensive research over the past decades that can be used to replace or complement these traditional raw materials.
Ethanol Alliance said these alternatives include municipal solid waste and waste agricultural residues for fuel ethanol, and algae and used cooking oil for biodiesel, and that these wastes have biological components that can be converted to engine-compatible alcohols or esters.
Ethanol Alliance further said that biofuels present a ready alternative to fossil fuels while other “sophisticated” alternatives such as fuel cell technology are being developed. For developing countries that have huge oil import bills, biofuels development is a very promising venture.
Ethanol Alliance noted that biofuels are also cheap to produce, making them economically favorable to the poor. The phaseout of fossil fuels, which will admittedly be an excruciatingly slow process, has to start somewhere. Especially for developing countries like the Philippines, biofuels are the best and most available option.
Ethanol Alliance said biofuels are not a cure-all medicine for problems on climate change and fossil fuels dependence, and is one among many options, albeit it is seen as a readily available, proven and inexpensive option.
Ethanol Alliance added that the need for expanded biofuels use becomes more urgent, all the more do biofuels need further research and development.
