Friday, 18th July 2008
Brussels Briefing, July 2008
Do we really want to swap energy dependency for food dependency?
Millions of hectares of land are being taken out of food production due to the growing demand for biofuels. It is incomprehensible that internationally, subsidies worth US $11-12 billion in 2006 were used to divert 100 million tonnes of cereals from human consumption mostly to satisfy a thirst for fuel for vehicles. Forcing the market to cater for the biofuel industry is affecting the global food crisis.
In the last 2 years, biofuel production worldwide has soared. EU targets require 10% of all fuel sold to be derived from plants within 12 years. 3% of agricultural land in Europe has now been converted from growing food to growing fuel, exacerbating the food shortage crisis. In Indonesia, vast tracts of rain forest are being destroyed to make way for lucrative palm oil crops to supply the West with biofuels. Friends of the Earth report that this trend not only causes large scale environmental damage, but leads to abuse of the rights of local communities and indigenous people.
The same situation is occurring in the US, where one third of the total maize harvest last year, supercharged by huge tax subsidies, was turned into bioethanol to fuel cars. This has created a huge demand to fill the gap for feed maize from Brazil and again has lead to the destruction of rainforest and the abuse of indigenous people. It is worth remembering that the amount of maize used to fill the tank of an average-sized US family saloon with bioethanol, would feed a single human being for an entire year.
The current production of biofuels is not sustainable. But the real hope lies not in conventional food crops, but so-called second-generation biofuels, which can be cultivated with little water and few fertilisers on marginal land that will not compete with food crops. Researchers are looking at crops like Jatropha, already undergoing field trials in India, as holding hope for a future free from the stark choice between food and fuel.
Sweden provides one of the best examples of good practice in Europe. In Sweden there is a tax on landfill waste. A large portion of the waste that is not recovered thus goes to incineration and becomes energy. The well developed district heating systems in Sweden makes this possible. There are also well established systems in place for collecting household food waste. The waste is used for biogas and vehicle fuel for the local bus network and municipal vehicles. Biogas gives low emissions and low noise. The government has invested support in biogas facilities and has also introduced tax exemptions for alternative fuels. Since 1970, the use of oil has been cut in half. Sweden has a focus on using less energy rather than looking for alternative solutions to fossil fuels. Most of the bio energy comes from residue from the forest industry and as it is a waste product, is entirely sustainable.
Scottish drinks industry under threat from Brussels pesticide ban
The Scottish drinks industry is facing an unprecedented crisis because of a new ban on pesticides proposed by Brussels. Producers of beer, white spirits, and even whisky maltsters, may in future have to import barley, wheat and other cereals from France and Spain where the ban will have little impact on farm output.
The EU is proposing to ban a number of pesticides from use in our farm sector on health grounds. In the new directive, a number of products would be eliminated because they are allegedly cancer-causing, although there is no substantive scientific evidence to prove this. The effects of such a ban are wide ranging. The banning of products like triazoles which are used to control diseases in wheat, barley and other cereal crops, could see losses of 20-30% in yields. Last week the EU Council of Agriculture Ministers voted by a qualified majority — with the UK abstaining — to adopt the proposals by the Commission. The draft regulation will now go before the European Parliament, which predictably has proposed even more draconian criteria leading to the likelihood of even wider bans which could lead to up to 90% of common fungicides being taken off the market.
Farmers in Scotland spray triazoles on spring barley to combat diseases like rhynchosporium, net blotch, eyespot and mildew which can dramatically reduce crop yields and quality. If triazoles are forced off the market by these proposals, it will have a major impact on barley and wheat crops in the UK. Because of our wet conditions these fungicides are essential for healthy crops that in turn are key ingredients for the internationally renowned Scottish drinks industry. France, Spain, Italy and other countries who voted in favour of this ban, did so because in their hot and dry climates, triazoles are not necessary to combat the kind of crop diseases that we face in our wet Scottish climate. The removal of triazoles and other pesticides would force the Scottish drinks industry to import barley and wheat from these Mediterranean countries, with the consequent negative impact on our farmers and on the reputation of our Scottish products. Once again Brussels bureaucrats will have struck a blow against Scottish businesses and handed a major competitive advantage to our EU neighbours.
For once, the UK government is supportive of our arguments on this issue. The government's adviser, the Pesticides Safety Directorate (PSD) has said that these proposals would be disastrous for crop production in the UK. But needless to say, the European Parliament's suggested amendments to the directive go even further. The Greens and other do-gooders intend that within five years we will have completely banned 92% of insecticides, 77 to 82% of fungicides and 90 to 91% of herbicides! The folly of such proposals, at a time of rising food prices and food shortages, is absolutely clear. We need the strongest possible protest from the Scottish and Westminster Governments to ensure that the European Commission is forced to think again before they cause irreparable damage to the Scottish drinks industry.
