Bio Fuels

[Oola]

I've seen some people in the know talking on TV about bio fuels. It seems that they're more than a double-edged sword, because they're worrying that land previously used for producing crops is going to be ditched in favour of producing the bio fuel crops, creating an even worse food shortage.

Also they estimate that there'll be even more deforestation to make way for more bio fuels. Then there's the extra water that'll be needed to keep the crops growing.

Yet the government seems to be pushing bio fuels, rather than trying to address the real problem of getting people to use their cars less. I swear that in the past five years, we've seen an increase in just the cars per household on out street. At weekends it's live weaving through a maze of parked cars, each house seems to have at least 2 cars.

What can be done? I don't think the general public are being made aware enough, they really need to push both sides of the argument.

[jazzactivist]

I agree with you about the biofuels, Oola. From what I have read about it, the original idea was that it would be a combination of people using less fuel and biofuels being produced instead of fossil fuels but, of course, it is so much easier for big business and governments to push the idea of biofuels as a quick fix. I think that the problem has arisen as the big oil companies are diversifying into biofuels. They haven't got a good reputation for caring about indigenous land or people, just profits. I think that the solution would be for each country to produce its own biofuels for its own population and ration its use accordingly. Plus, investing much much more in public transport as a service rather than a business.

[Oola]

Some good ideas but as they're going to (by law) introduce a petrol with a certain percentage of bio fuel laced into it, I think the demand for biofuels is going to soar. If developing countries can get that bit more money for their crops, I think it's going to cause a lot of problems.

The thing is, I do think a lot of people think the problem with gas emissions is going to go away with biofuels, and to some extent so does the government. I don't understand why they aren't pushing this issue more, and why they aren't advertising things like organised car pools etc. more. It just doesn't make any sense.

[jazzactivist]

It makes sense to me, Oola, because there is no profit or tax to be made by people driving less, using public transport and using home grown ideas such as car pools / co-ops. Unfortunately, what often starts off as a good, alternative idea gets twisted into a big money making one once multinationals click onto it and governments see the financial possibilities. For example, it was possible for many years to buy huge bottles of cheap veg oil from supermarkets and convert it yourself into biodiesel for your car. Then when the supermarkets discovered this they stopped stocking the bg, cheap bottles and only stock the smaller more expensive ones, then the government discovered that tax wasn't being paid so now there is a hefty tax to pay on the chemical needed to do the converting. My neighbour told me that the price per litre for home made biodiesel has gone up from about 10p per litre to 50p per litre.

I think that always putting profit before people is the price that we all pay for global capitalism.

[franbee]

Did anyone see the prog last night, the lady trying to stop the people in Boston from using their cars? She really struggled to get them to walk their children to school and to the market. I think it's on again.

[Redstart]

People won't give up their cars if they haven't got a substantial public transport system to turn to.

Here every village has a bus or a train - you even find bus stops at the top of mountain passes - and we could easily live here without a car. Every year we can buy a half price pass that entitles us to half price travel on trains, buses and boats for a year, or we can pay quite a lot for a general annual travel pass, which pays for itself if you travel a lot because it entitles you to travel for free on buses, trains and boats for a year. If you travel a lot in fact it soon pays for itself and then you travel free. Parents can pay about £10 a year and with that pass all children under 16 can travel for free if accompanied by a parent - I made use of that pass during the school summer holidays when the children were younger.

The result of all this is that people use public transport because it's there and it's not too expensive. Public transport is seen here (and in France) as a social service and a necessity.

How you could do something similar in Britain is beyond me - Dr Beeching did a thorough job! Where we lived in North Yorkshire every village had a station - now everyone has to have a car.

[Ivy]

Well living in a big(ish) town we have public transport but after 8 PM I find it too scary to use it. Yesterday evening I went for a seminar and knew I would not get a parking place so I took public transport. The trains were full of drunken people and people that I did not want to meet alone (tattoos, big dogs dirty clothing beer bottles etc.) the last few stops I was alone with one woman in the carriage and hoped it stayed like that. I was glad that I could take my car from the train station and not have to wait for the bus.

As for bio fuel--- there is a EU law that crops that are needed to produce bio fuel must be grown on land only that has been agricultural land before 2005 leading to one very simple and tragic result that all farm land is used for bio fuel and for the food production rain forest is chopped down in order to produce enough . Also Methane fuel is only suitable for very few cars and all the other cars would need to be filled with either extremely expensive petrol only the highest standard version would remain (super + don't know the English equivalent) Good for the automobile industry but good for the environment? NO!

[Redstart]

It seems to me this is yet another case of the rich world getting the poorer world to stop growing food (as they did for coffee, heroine poppies, etc.)! Expect that this time it's rich farmers as well. What do these people think we are going to eat?

The only answer is to use public transport and if it doesn't feel safe at night, there should be more staff on the trains.

I went to Burgdorf on the train today and it was easier than in the car - it only took about 5 minutes longer (I had to wait between trains) but I didn't have to find (and pay for) somewhere to park and got exercise walking from the station to the wool shop, which is in the old (pedestrianised) part of the town. As Swiss railways use a lot of hydro-electric power, I didn't add much carbon to the atmosphere either.

[Oola]

Well it's a simple case of either less car use or eat less...

Not enough room on the planet to feed a growing population and provide enough land for biofuels.

[Redstart]

So grow food!

[Oola]

It;'s not rocket science is it Redstart ;) Unfortunately for some it's not that easy, thanks to the local councils - especially when you consider that my local council has earmarked our allotment site for possible housing development!