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Biofuels: ethical issues
Dr Alena Buyx
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Nuffield Council on Bioethics
• Established in 1991
• Independent body – examines ethical
questions raised by advances in biology
and medicine
• Contributes to policy making and
stimulates debate
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Background to the report
• 12 person working party
• 10 meetings over 18 months
• 3-month public consultation
• Various kinds of evidence gathering
sessions
• Peer review
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The problem
• Fossil fuels increasingly unsustainable
• Efforts to reduce consumption are essential,
but short and mid term need for liquid
transport fuel will remain
• Biofuels are one of the few alternatives for
energy for transport
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Biofuels
• Currently only a small proportion of world energy use
Drivers
• Energy security
• Economic development
• Mitigation of climate change
Current policies
• The European Commission Renewable Energy Directive (2009)
• The European Fuel Quality Directive (2009)
• The UK Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (Amendment) Order (2009)
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Current biofuels
• Bioethanol: sugar/starch from crops such as
sugar cane, or wheat
• Biodiesel: oils of crops such as palm,
soybean, or sunflower
• 3 case studies illustrate problems of current
biofuel production
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Case study 1: US
• Food security: ‘tortilla riots’ in Mexico
• GHG savings: indirect land-use change
• Water security: high water demand
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• Environmental sustainability: deforestation
• Workers’ rights: ‘slave labour’, unhealthy
working conditions; informal child labour
Case study 2: Brazil
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• Environmental sustainability: deforestation
and biodiversity losses
• Human rights: ‘land grabs’,
disruption of subsistence
economies
• Food security: rising price
of palm oil and foods that
use palm oil
Case study 3: Malaysia
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The story so far…
Production of current biofuels is largely unsustainable. We need to:
• Improve current production methods
• Continue to develop alternatives for the future
This report offers an ethical framework for policy making to enable more ethical production of biofuels.
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Moral values
• Rights and global justice
• Solidarity and the common good
• Stewardship
• Sustainability
• Intergenerational equity
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Ethical Principles
1. Biofuels development should not be at the expense of people‘s essential rights
2. Biofuels should be environmentally sustainable
3. Biofuels should contribute to a net reduction of total greenhouse gas emissions
4. Biofuels should adhere to fair trade principles.
5. Costs and benefits of biofuels should be distributed in an equitable way
6. If the first five principles are respected, depending on certain key considerations, there is a duty to develop such biofuels
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1. Human rights
Key recommendations
• Biofuels targets should set out to avoid
incentivising human rights abuses.
• The European Commission should set up
effective monitoring systems for human
rights.
• Compulsory certification of
human rights standards for EU
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2. Environmental
sustainability Key recommendation
• An international environmental sustainability
standard for biofuels production should be
developed, for example by the United
Nations Environment Programme.
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3. Climate change
Key recommendations
• A single international standard for
assessing greenhouse gas emissions
across the life cycle of biofuels.
• Policies on land use change should be set
within a global, co-ordinated response to
climate change.
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4. Just reward
Key recommendations
• Biofuels targets set by the EU and the UK
Government should promote fair trade
principles.
• The UK Intellectual Property Office should
develop a licence scheme for biofuels.
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5. Equitable distribution
Key recommendation
• Policies should ensure benefits are shared
equitably, e.g. through public-private-
partnerships
• Future sustainability initiatives should not
discourage local, small-scale production,
particularly in developing countries that are
fuel poor.
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6: A duty?
If the first five principles are respected,
depending on certain key considerations,
there is a duty to develop such biofuels.
Key considerations:
• Absolute cost
• Alternative energy technologies
• Other possible uses of biomass
• Areas of uncertainty
• Irreversibility
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Bringing it all together
• Sophisticated target-based strategy
• Comprehensive ethical standard
• Enforced through a certification scheme
• Investment in new biotechnologies
• Apply to all related fields and technologies
The standard should include:
• protection of human rights
• protection of the environment
• full assessment of greenhouse gas emissions
• fair trade principles
• access and benefit-sharing schemes
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New biofuels technologies
Aim is to improve efficiency of biofuels
production at all points in the supply chain and
to use less natural resources such as land,
water and fertilisers
1. Advanced Breeding
2. Genetic Modification
3. Improvement in Biotechnology of Processing
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Advanced plant breeding
approaches
• Can be used to test plant hybrids and select
the variety with a desired trait
• One example currently underway is
identification of genetic markers for
developing high biomass yield in willow
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Genetic modification
Genetic modification of plants
• Altered connections within lignocellulose
• More accessible source of sugars, leading
to increasing yields
Genetically modified enzymes
• Enzyme for processing lignocellulose to
ethanol or other biofuels
• Can use a variety of feedstocks
• Higher conversion yields, leading to lower
processing costs
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The problem with current
targets
Financial rewards
Avoiding penalties
Lack of incentives Established biofuels
New biofuels
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Recommendation
In order to exploit the full potential of
biofuels, policies are needed to
investigate the application of new
biotechnological approaches for
genetic improvement of crops