December 08, 2011
Let’s base energy policy on reality
Though we’ll always believe in Santa Claus, it’s time to finally put the Indirect Land Use Change (ILUC) myth to bed.
For a long time, the facts simply haven’t matched the rhetoric surrounding this theory, which claims that growing grains for biofuel production displaces other crops, leading to deforestation.
Just look at this simple chart (Source: National Institute for Space Research). As ethanol production increases four-fold, deforestation in the Amazon decreased by 72 percent.
And if that’s not enough, check out today’s story from Reuters showing that deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon region fell to its lowest in 23 years this past July, as ethanol production in that country and across the world continued to grow.
Despite the fact that ILUC is untested, highly disputed and clearly detached from reality, an ILUC penalty was included in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. That means that corn-based ethanol cannot be considered an “advanced biofuel,” even though it fits the bill in other aspects.
It’s time to stop basing out nation’s energy policies on fairytales. The stakes are too high.
