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Toxic jatropha not magic biofuel crop, experts warn
Reuters
Oilseed plant jatropha does not offer an easy answer to biofuels problems as some countries hope, because it can be toxic and yields are unreliable, experts and industry officials warned on Wednesday.

The woody plant can grow on barren, marginal land, and so is increasingly popular in countries such as China that are keen to boost biofuels output but nervous about food security.

But its nuts and leaves are toxic, requiring careful handling by farmers and at crushing plants, said experts at an oils and fats conference.

In addition, it is a labour-intensive crop as each fruit ripens at a different time and needs to be harvested separately. Its productivity is also low and has yet to be stabilised.
(12 September 2007)

The Biofuel Backlash
Bart Mongoven, Stratfor
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) released a scathing report Sept. 11 calling for a dramatic drawdown in the subsidies and preferential trade laws granted to biofuel producers in OECD countries. In Europe, Friends of the Earth hailed the report, saying it has focused attention on the negative issues surrounding biofuels, while libertarian groups on both sides of the Atlantic applauded its call for a reduction in subsidies.

The report is one of a number of efforts designed to deflate support for biofuels in the United States and Europe. Increasing numbers of groups, especially in Europe, are beginning to question the wisdom of the current move toward biofuels as a replacement, at least in part, for gasoline and diesel in vehicles. They argue that these fuels offer little benefit and have serious drawbacks. Specifically, they question the wisdom of burning food crops for fuel. They point to a "tortilla crisis" in Mexico caused by rising corn prices and a "bread crisis" in France caused by rising wheat prices. Inflation in China is now running above 6 percent, largely due to increases in the price of foodstuffs.

In other words, the backlash against biofuels is in full swing. The critics, however, are running head on into the powerful agricultural lobbies in the United States and Europe that so successfully championed the issue in the first place. These advocates say that ethanol, biodiesel and other nonpetroleum-based transportation fuels reduce pollution, help fight climate change and improve national security by reducing dependence on foreign oil. Though many policymakers find these arguments compelling, the biofuels issue would not have achieved the political momentum it has without the intense lobbying by the agricultural sector.

In fact, the fate of the current wave of biofuel mandates and the pace at which industrialized countries offer biofuels at the pumps will largely be determined by agriculture interests. The implications are as strong and lasting for developing countries as for the industrialized countries involved. Moreover, advancements in biofuel technology over the next decade or so could convert some of the current critics to supporters.
(13 September 2007)
Recommended by David Roberts at Gristmill.

Farmers tout alfalfa as fuel
Mary Hopkin, Tri-City Herald Washington State
Alfalfa producers throughout the country are bucking the notion that hay is for horses and hoping the ethanol industry will see that hay can provide horsepower as well.

Alfalfa could be a leading feedstock to produce cellulosic ethanol, said Mark Wagoner, a Touchet alfalfa seed farmer who also serves as chairman of the National Alfalfa and Forage Alliance.

In August, the alliance held a daylong summit in Washington, D.C., to promote the benefits of alfalfa as a biomass crop, or agricultural waste byproducts, to produce cellulosic ethanol.

"Alfalfa is the fourth-largest crop in the U.S.," said Wagoner, whose grandfather started farming in the Touchet area in 1918.

Wagoner grows about 1,200 acres of alfalfa seed, most of which is exported to Argentina. But when he harvests his alfalfa seed each fall, tons of alfalfa are left on the field where it decomposes.

Because it has been treated with chemicals, it can't be used for feed. But that waste could be turned into ethanol, he said.

"If we are going to meet the goal of producing 25 percent of the nation's energy supply from renewable sources by 2025, cellulosic ethanol production must be part of the equation," Wagoner said.

Beth Nelson, NAFA's executive director, said that although a lot of research has gone into determining if switchgrass is a potential feedstock for ethanol, alfalfa makes more sense.
(11 September 2007)