In response to the rising demand for biofuels in the upcoming years, the UN-wide initiative UN-Energy developed a policy framework for a sustainable biofuel industry. This is necessary not least because of the negative consequences an uncontrolled use of biofuels may have. One of the key remaining problems is the fact that rising demands in biofuels also increases the price for food, as both use the same resources as raw product. This impacts in particular on impoverished populations in developing countries who already have to spend the majority of their income on food. The early 2007 riots in Mexico following a steady increase of maize prices over the preceding months indicated the conflict potential of using maize as raw material for biofuels.
Furthermore, biofuels are not necessarily more climate friendly then conventional fuels. In Indonesia, for instance, vast areas of forests are converted into oil palm plantations by slash and burn agriculture. This deforestation increases CO2 emissions, diminishes biodiversity and also reduces significantly the forests potential as a carbon sink. The UN-Energy study addresses those and other problems and outlines a number of alternative approaches, which are backed up by different case studies. The conception of a political framework, however, is still in its infancy: the recommendations are currently still kept abstract and need to be specified in order to assure the sustainable use of biofuels on a local, national and international level. (by Achim Maas)

For more information on UN-Energy, see http://esa.un.org/un-energy/

Published in:ECC-Newsletter, June 2007