In any discussion about sustainability, and especially about bio-fuel,
is is essential to remember that the world is an intricate web and
what is done in your area for your benefit can have disastrous
repercussions somewhere else.

* * *

> In the United States, rapid growth in demand for biofuel feedstocks, particularly corn and soybeans, is also changing cropping patterns in the Midwest, leading to more frequent planting of corn in crop rotations, an increase in corn acreage at the expense of wheat, and the ploughing up of grasslands. This change in land cover has raised alarm bells about possible adverse affects habitat for waterfowl.

> The biofuels-led expansion in grain and oilseed production within some OECD countries has also put pressure on set-aside land and land reserved for conservation. In the EU, for example, the European Commission is recommending that the obligatory set-aside requirement be abolished for at least the next crop year, much to the dismay of wildlife conservation groups.

> Increased intensive production of maize [corn] in the U.S. Midwest has also accelerated growth of the "dead" zone in the Gulf of Mexico: a hypoxic (oxygen-deficient) area spreading out from the mouth of the Mississippi River. Scientists attribute its growth to the runoff of nutrients, mainly from crop farming. At risk is the northern Gulf of Mexico's US$ 2.6 billion-a-year fishing industry.

> Some biofuel feedstock crops, particularly maize, require lots of water. Yet the current trend in the expansion of maize-based ethanol is westward, into areas that are more dependent on fossil water sources, like the Ogallala Aquifer, and irrigation than the rain-fed heart of the U.S. corn belt. The ethanol plants themselves also require significant volumes of water — 3 to 6 litres per litre of ethanol. Press reports of local concerns over their claims on local water supplies are appearing with increased regularity.

FROM

"Biofuels — At What Cost? Government support for ethanol and biodiesel
in selected OECD countries". September 2007.
Prepared by: Ronald Steenblik, Director of Research.
The Global Subsidies Initiative of the International Institute for
Sustainable Development. Geneva, Switzerland

> The International Institute for Sustainable Development launched the Global Subsidies Initiative in December 2005 to put a spotlight on subsidies -- transfers of public money to private interests -- and how they undermine efforts to put the world economy on a path toward sustainable development.

-- 
Peter L. Borst
Danby, NY  USA
42.35, -76.50
http://picasaweb.google.com/peterlborst

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