[Terrapreta] bio-fuel principles

[lou gold]

Some folks on this list might want to enter this discussion of biofuel
principles.
For the most part it seems as an "old school list of don'ts". But the last
item hints
at "enhancement" and may be an opportunity to introduce the idea of biofuel
production being configured as carbon negative by linking it with biochar
technologies.





*Guidelines to ensure biofuels production won't hurt the environment
mongabay.com
August 30, 2007
*




  Environmentalists have long seen biofuels as a means to improve the
sustainability of transportation and energy use since they are a renewable
source of energy that can be replenished on an ongoing basis. Further,
because biofuels are generally derived from plants, which absorb carbon from
the atmosphere as they grow, biofuel production offers the potential to help
offset carbon dioxide emissions and mitigate climate change. Nonetheless, in
recent years, there has been considerable backlash against biofuels, which
are increasingly viewed as a threat to the environment. Green groups now
point to large-scale land conversion for energy crops, higher food prices,
and a spate of studies that suggest net emissions from corn ethanol are
little better than those from fossil fuels, to caution that biofuels can
cause more problems than they address.



World biodiesel and ethanol production, 1980-2003, based on data from the
International Energy Agency (IEA). Graphic by Rhett A. Butler  To address
these concerns, the Energy Center of the
EPFL<http://energycenter.epfl.ch/biofuels>(Swiss Federal Institute of
Technology, Lausanne) has launched the
Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels, a multi-stakeholder initiative, which
aims to establish social and environmental sustainability standards. By mid
2008, the group hopes to develop draft standards in conjunction with
non-governmental organizations, companies, governments and
inter-governmental groups from all over the world. The roundtable seeks to
"create a tool that consumers, policy-makers, companies, banks, and other
actors can use to ensure that biofuels deliver on their promise of
sustainability."

"Many people are worried about biofuels contributing to deforestation and
air pollution in the name of protecting the planet," said Claude Martin,
former Director-General of WWF International and Chair of the Roundtable's
Steering Board. "Companies and farmers want global rules that they can
follow. The Roundtable will bring together all of these actors to start
writing these rules together, to ensure that biofuels deliver on their
promise of sustainability."



Price per unit of potential energy, dollars per million Btu. Corn price
includes subsidies.  After a thorough interactive consultation of its
members, the working group on environment is currently working on a new set
of draft principles:

   - Biofuel production should not directly or indirectly endanger
   wildlife species or areas of high conservation value.
   - Biofuel production should not directly or indirectly degrade or
   damage soils.
   - Biofuel production should not directly or indirectly contaminate or
   deplete water resources.
   - Biofuel production should not directly or indirectly lead to air
   pollution.
   - The use of biotechnologies for biofuels production should improve
   their social and/or environmental performance, and always be consistent with
   national or international biosafety protocols.

These principles can be consulted and commented at
http://www.bioenergywiki.net/index.php/Draft_Principles

"Our hope is that in an academic setting, companies, governments, and civil
organizations will be able to come to consensus on how to ensure biofuels
are produced sustainably," said Dr. Patrick Aebischer, President of the
EPFL.

For more information and registration to the working groups, please visit
the *official RSB webpage <http://energycenter.epfl.ch/biofuels>*.
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