Veggie cars aren’t the answer
The current debate around biofuels seems to mark the start of a paradigm shift in the way we deal with environmental problems. Once hailed the remedy to crises from peak oil to climate change, converting organic matter to fuel is now being linked to increased food poverty and rainforest clearance.
And it’s not just environmentalists like George Monbiot who think so. Even British Chancellor Alistair Darling - from deep within the belly of the establishment - has his reservations.
Inconvenient, then, given the legal requirement which began from 14th April 2.5% of forecourt fuels sold in the UK must now be derived from biofuels. What’s more, future percentage increases are planned, as enshrined by UK and EU law.
It’s becoming more than clear that, like so many other supposed magic bullets, biofuels won’t help. To reduce transport’s carbon emissions, we must simply travel less.
Biofuels, like natty not-a-plastic-bag bags and trendy, limited edition hemp t-shirts need to step aside. No more kidding ourselves - we can’t buy our way out of environmental catastrophe.
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We’re just encouraged to buy our way out of trouble by consuming more but with a token green gesture slapped on to make us feel better about it all.
We need politicians to make tough, bold decisions but it doesn’t look like any of the hopeless lot in power now will be doing anything of the sorts anytime soon.
Considering as well their inflationary impact on food prices (they take resource out of this market which inevitably causes price increases) we may end up with more expensive living costs, a lower propensity to consume and therefore economically detrimental factors on economies which prohibit investment in other green issues (such as renewable energy research and equipment).
We’re massively reliant on fossil fuels and we should be going hell for leather into renewables, but it’s not as simple as it all appears, by any stretch of the imagination. Before we all end up in a Prius, wearing a hemp suit, we need to stop and think. There’s no quick win and the old adage of no pain rings true.
We must also remember that CO2 may not be the worst threat to our environment. Methane is the second largest contributor to the greenhouse effect, accounting for 18 per cent of greenhouse warming. Although the amount of methane entering the atmosphere is small compared with emissions of carbon dioxide, methane is a much more potent greenhouse gas. Molecule for molecule, methane traps 25 times as much heat in the atmosphere as carbon dioxide.
So whilst CO2 and travel is important, we need a concerted effort on all fronts to halt the environmental impact we’ve created over the last century.