Sir Bob Geldof was the keynote speaker at the ninth World Biofuels Markets conference, held in Brussels Expo last week, and was typically outspoken with a passionate call to action on poverty reduction. Since Live Aid in 1984, Geldof has become a recognised spokesman on development issues and his notorious underuse of cleaning products further enhances his green credentials.
Sir Bob Geldof addressing the biofuels conference in Brussels
Geldof said “Biofuels are part of the development mix, but at this critical moment, when the wealthy have just learned of the fragility of life, the poor continue their daily struggle for existence, there is one truth; that when the rich become less rich, the poor get even poorer”. Speaking of what he called the three great crisis, the financial slowdown, climate change and the nuclear arms race he declared that “We’re all in this together,” and that “We require better politics and more foresight. The convulsions of our time may bring in extreme events”. Quoting UK climate change economist, Sir Nickholas Stern, we connected poverty reduction with climate change, and that we must succeed at both as they impact on each other. Taking aim at policy makers he pointed out that biofuel policy was polarised, either for or against, and asked for “a policy that is more nuanced, based on science not emotion. governments are placing an inordinate amount of faith in second generation biofuels”.
Although he was certain that biofuels were “an essential part of the African development story”, but he insisted that “fuels must never be grown in place of food”. Energy is essential to development and he pointed out that, for many Africans, biomass was the only energy option. Moving away from transport fuels, he described how wood is used by most Africans as their primary fuel, and that bioenergy could improve current uses through, for example making green charcoal by mixing chippings or more or less anything mixed with ash to make a more efficient cooking fuel than charcoal. Additionally, he advocated local biomass initiatives to produce fuel and to benefit the local economy. Discussing household fuels, he said they caused respiratory health problems, especially in women and children, “Many studies have shown that exposure to fossil fuel pollution causes more deaths than malaria and tuberculosis combined. Using biomass stoves can contribute greatly to people’s health”. Ethanol gel was reccommended as a sustainable replacement fuel for households.
The speech ended with an emotional cry for action, “I’ve seen the people die from pollution. I’ve seen the women worn out, worn down, put upon and beaten up. I’ve seen the children hungry again. Africa has the greatest bio energy potential, but against that is, in the words of the OECD, a dependency on fossil fuels that is both a manifestation of, and a cause of poverty. This must change, what is happening now, what we lack is not knowledge or understanding, but to courage to face up to what we know and the energy to act. The poor must be included in whatever financial architecture the G20 begin to recreate in London. The economic system was asymetric. Instability is inherent in any asymetric system. If we do not include the creativity of the poorest 20% of the world in whatever we come up with, we’re going to fail again. Prosperity is the gift of peace, poverty is the engine of war. If we keep the poor locked into this endless life of… nothing, we will fail again. Act now”.
Despite these plaudits, there is uncertainty and division in bioland. The delegates fall into three distinct and mutually exclusive camps, biodesils, bioethanol and algae. The first two are based on various crops, the second on water tanks. Each uses a natural resource and none have reached a level of efficiency or cost that is truly viable. There are several issues with crop based fuels that are causing concern, starting with where are the biofuel crops to be grown? There just isn’t enough land to grow enough fuel crops, to replace petroleum, never mind adding in energy production. The food or fuel controversy led Greenpeace to protest outside the event last year, to the discomfort of those inside.
One ‘third generation’ bio technology that many are hopeful for is the humble algae. William Thurmond from Emerging Markets Online, a market intelligence service, elaborated, “The cost of producing a gallon of fuel has dropped dramatically. In 2005 it cost $3,000 to produce one gallon, in 2008 it cost $250 and now it’s being manufactured for between $8 to $20 a gallon and I’m predicting it will drop to $5 or below in the coming years”. The secret to this success turns out to be simple, “Investment”, Thurmond said, “When the production cost dropped to $25 per gallon, investors started putting large sums into research and this has financed real improvements”. He predicts further investment as the price drops, coupled with the expected rise in oil prices in the near future.
Although the myriad of technologies being developed show promise there doesn’t seem to be any clear replacement for fossil fuels and many feel that a diverse range of biofuels is the future. However, when asked what an investor should put their money in, to find out which of the options was the VHS, which the Betamax, exhibitors and delegates were united. “Nobody knows”, was the troubling answer.
Published in New Europe
