Greens “doing more harm than good”

London - The Gallagher Report (see PE news item) on biofuels sustainability highlights the need to put the brakes, not so much on the biofuels industry, but on the overly powerful environmental bandwagon in Europe.

Back in 2003, EU politicians passed the European Biofuels Directive, which introduced incentives and targets to stimulate the production of biofuels. These measures, such as the Renewable Transports Fuels Obligation, were hailed at the time by environmentalists as heralding a green revolution.

Now faced with issues of food shortages, deforestation and doubts about the climate benefits of biofuels, the greens have jumped ship. Friends of the Earth, for example, now believes that biofuels are “a false solution to climate change and are doing much more harm than good.”

The real problem, though, is that environmental campaign groups and many in the European Parliament view environmental protection in isolation; giving this issue priority over all other national and global concerns - from eliminating starvation, disease and poverty in poor countries to keeping the lights on in homes, hospitals and factories in the developed world.

This single-issue approach raises questions over the wisdom of those setting the agenda in the field of environmental regulation and the effectiveness of policies such as banning shopping bags and building wind farms in combating climate change.

Meanwhile, the process industries – the targets for much venom from environmental campaigners and their political backers in the European Parliament and European Commission alike – are steadily working to provide real and realistic answers to climate change and energy issues, including technologies that provide both food and biofuels from sustainable agricultural feedstock.

Please email your views to: patrick.raleigh@centaur.co.uk

Your feedback is much appreciated,

Patrick Raleigh, editor, Process Engineering