There were 10 in the bed and the little one said ‘roll over’. So they all rolled over and one fell out.
The UK is increasing demand for biofuels and this will lead to the destruction of more natural habitat and actually create more climate changing greenhouse gas emissions than previously feared.
There were 9 in the bed and the little one said ‘roll over’. So they all rolled over and one fell out.
To put this in perspective – the UK’s hunger for biofuel risks swallowing up and extra 1.6 million hectares of wildlife habitat (an area the size of Northern Ireland) and on top of that spew out up to 13 mega tonnes of additional carbon dioxide.
There were 8 in the bed and the little one said ‘roll over’. So they all rolled over and one fell out.
This is an example of ‘Indirect Landuse Change’ – a rather obscure term describing one of the greatest environmental challenges we currently face.
There were 7 in the bed and the little one said ‘roll over’. So they all rolled over and one fell out.
Converting rainforest, grassland and other vital habitats into plantations producing biofuels is a story we’ve been following – the Tana River Delta and Dakatcha Woodlands are good examples. Some 20,000 people could be displaced from the Dakatacha Woodlands where, in addition, Clarke’s weaver (pictured) is threatened directly with extinction. The Tana River Delta hosts the endangered Basra reed warbler as well as an impressive array of other wildlife including Tana River Colobus, lions, elephant and breeding fish which support local fishermen.
There were 6 in the bed and the little one said ‘roll over’. So they all rolled over and one fell out.
To the direct losses are added the indirect ones. Land converted to make space for biofuel production will force other farming activities in producer countries further into the forests, rolling the pressure on landuse to new areas.
There were 5 in the bed and the little one said ‘roll over’. So they all rolled over and one fell out.
The scale of the problem is revealed in a new study which analyses national biofuel action plans commissioned by Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, Action Aid and the RSPB. You can read the full research carried out by the Institute for European Environment Policy here.
There were 4 in the bed and the little one said ‘roll over’. So they all rolled over and one fell out.
The UK’s record is particularly disappointing as the plan is to meet the mandatory 2020 European Union renewable energy target of 10% contribution from transport from biofuels from crops. This is a deliberate choice and it doesn’t have to be this way – development of electric cars or the use of biofuels from waste (not crops) are viable alternatives which don’t drive relentless pressure on landuse.
There were 3 in the bed and the little one said ‘roll over’. So they all rolled over and one fell out.
Failure to act will lead to building pressure to increase food prices and so hit the world’s poorest people hardest as well as driving further losses of the natural environment. Government here and the EU should stop relying on misguided biofuels targets to meet otherwise laudable renewable energy goals.
There were 2 in the bed and the little one said ‘roll over’. So they all rolled over and one fell out.
As a minimum, the full scale of the impacts must be factored into new legislation and this must cover the impact on habitats, climate change and food security. It is the policy of the mad-house to set targets to tackle the challenge of climate change that only succeed in making matters worse.
There were 1 in the bed and the little one said ‘roll over’. So they all rolled over the one fell out.
This can’t go on. If the legislation can’t be reformed then the argument must be to scrap the biofuels target altogether.
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