These days, there’s always a dark cloud hanging above biofuels everytime they are mentioned in the news. After the world woke up to the fact that the biofuel rush was causing deforestation and taking food from the worlds’ poor’s plates, the industry has come up with a second-generation of biofuels made out of nonfood crop plants such as jatropha, a genus of succulents, planted mostly in Africa, and switch grass and giant reed in the United States and Europe. In theory, that should be the answer. But it’s not as good as it seems.
According to a report in the International Herald Tribune, “biologists and botanists are warning that these second-generation biofuels may have serious unintended consequences as well: Most of these newer crops are what scientists label invasive species – weeds – which they say have high potential to escape plantations, overrun adjacent farms and natural land, and create economic and ecological havoc.”
Scientists from various conservation groups gathered a United Nations meeting in Bonn on Tuesday issued a stark warning about invasive speces.
“Some of the most commonly recommended species for biofuels production are also major invasive alien species,” their paper says, adding that these crops should be studied more before being cultivated for biofuel production in new areas. Controlling the spread of such plants could prove difficult, the experts said, producing “greater financial losses than gains.” As the International Union encapsulated the message: “Don’t let invasive biofuel crops attack your country.”
The problem with biofuels is that its purveyors are always rushing into new technologies without assessing them properly, fuelled by the urgent need to replace fossil energy with something cleaner and the possibility of making a quick, formidable buck. But haste is the enemy of perfection, and proper assessment of new technologies is imperative, no matter how long it takes. The consequences of biofuel production, as we all know now, can be devastating.
Er, haven’t these weeds been controlled successfully since we started farming. Why should that change now?