It's not about price. It's about sustainability.

FYI Facts & Stats Biofuels Market Quotes Ethanol & Gas prices Downloads Articles Ethanol production Fermentation principles Ethanol distillation Biodiesel production Algae biodiesel Environment Biogas production

Biofuels Environment Impact : Sustainability in a global context

Taking into account the importance of the UN-Energy report on bioenergy, we want to devote this section to analyze the key points regarding social, economic, and ecological issues raised by the rapid development of biofuels.

Being so relevant for humankind, it is crucial that the discussion at all levels regarding the social, economic and environmental consequences of biofuels production can be made objectively and without loosing sight of the definition of sustainability adopted by UN Commission on Sustainable Development: “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

Biofuels topic should not be regarded only in the current oil crisis context. While some people, from the right point of view, regard biofuels as an urgent need to develop renewable energy for the sake of the planet and its inhabitants, there are other people that just think about biofuels as a mean to break dependence on foreign fuels and/or a strategy to counteract oil prices.

This perspective is strictly relacte to economic interests. This can be a dangerous approach if governments don’t take action establishing the appropriate limits and regulations. To accomplish this, governments should seek for the mechanisms to involve scientists and professionals of biofuels and environment disciplines into a permanent discussion to find the better alternatives for local circumstances.

While the effect is global, research and actions should be developed from a local approach. Every region has particular characteristics that can be appropriate for a specific production scheme but not so good for others.

In the end, we believe that the sum of the correct balances of each particular application must result in a global balanced impact.

Biofuels should be regarded from the correct perspective. Fight against poverty has to do with the development of energy generation models and doing it in a way that can be made accessible for the people that currently don’t benefit from it; but, above all things, it has to be made in a sustainable way.

Production technologies are in a development phase and just as in any other science and technology fields, they will evolve. Finally, they will turn into production processes with viable net energy balances and environmental impacts that can be mitigated. This is why we firmly believe that it’s not about price. It’s about sustainability.