Myth of biofuels
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Since they were heralded as a key weapon in the fight against climate change, biofuels have been heavily criticised for causing food price inflation and deforestation and for stealing agricultural land essential to farmers in the developing world. Studies also suggest they may be far worse in terms of greenhouse gas emissions than even fossil fuels. While not necessarily involving GM, some of the worst biofuels involve the use of GM corn and soy, and Monsanto has been at the heart of the biofuels lobby. Attempts to develop so-called later generation biofuels also often involve GM.
Drive Aid: the madness of putting food into our cars
Hapless pro-biofuel campaigners promote 'Drive Aid' on the streets of London. Do you agree with them? (Time: 2:37)
ActionAid's campaign against biofuels - explained
If you thought biofuels were a good thing, you need to see this short film. Growing plants to turn into our petrol is taking food away from people in poor countries. And it’s no better for the environment than using fossil fuels. Biofuels are already mixed into the petrol we buy. Get the facts from this short film and then take action to stop our government supporting biofuels. (Time for video: 01:24)
Towards Solutions: The Agrofuels Myth
Agrofuels/Biofuels are promoted as a the solutions for the current energy and climate crises. Are the and can they be sustainable? This video explains in simple terms what Friends of the Earth think about them. (Time: 7:26)
Dr Patrick Dixon: Biofuels scandal – fill your car, starve the world?
At the ARBS Conference, Melbourne, April 2008, Dr Patrick Dixon talked about the problems that governments create by focusing on biofuels. This focus will distort food markets and exacerbate a global food crisis. (Time: 3.21)
Biofuels: Driving a Catastrophe
A shocking Sky News report shows the galloping rainforest destruction in Indonesia caused by the push for biofuels. (Time for video: 07:21)
FoE Biofuels Team debunks Growth Energy ads in the Metro
Ethanol is a dirty, expensive and inefficient fuel. The ethanol lobby is spending millions of dollars on advertising to try to convince Congress to continue handing out billions of taxpayer dollars. Here we show what their ads should actually say. (Time: 3:06)
Farmers Struggle in Paraguay against Soy Cultivation
An outline of the impacts of the, mostly genetically modified, soy expansion in Paraguay, driven in part by the use of soy for bio-energy (biofuels), which is causing the disappearance of rural communities as Paraguayan small farmers (campesinos) are driven out by force or by the deterioration in their living conditions. (Time: 04:20)
Dr Ricardo Navarro Discusses Impacts of Biofuels
Dr. Ricardo Navarro, president of Friends of the Earth El Salvador (CESTA), drops by Friends of the Earth U.S. to discuss some of the impacts of biofuel production and policy on the global south. (Time: 3:24)
The Myths of Biofuels
A presentation given by David Fridley of Lawrence Berkeley Labs and San Francisco Oil Awareness. He voices concerns about the potential effects of petroleum depletion (peak oil) on world societies for a number of years, and the headlong rush into the production of biofuels (agrofuels) as a "fix" for increasingly constrained world petroleum supplies. (Time for video: 01:28:45)
Biofuels - Myth of the Agrofuels Transition
Biofuels invoke an image of renewable abundance that allows industry, politicians, the World Bank, the UN, and even the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to present fuel from corn, sugarcane, soy and other crops as a smooth transition from peak oil to a renewable fuel economy. Myths of abundance divert attention away from powerful economic interests that benefit from this transition, avoiding discussion of the growing price that citizens of the Global South are beginning to pay to maintain the consumptive, oil-based lifestyle of the North. Biofuels mania obscures the profound consequences of the industrial transformation of our food and fuel systems – The Agro-fuels Transition. (Total time: 59:19)
The New Food Wars: Globalization GMOs and Biofuels
At the 17th Annual Margolis lecture at UC Irvine, USA, scientist and activist Vandana Shiva explores whether the future will be one of food wars or food peace. She argues that the creation of food peace demands a major shift in the way food is produced and distributed, and the way in which we manage and use the soil, water and biodiversity, which makes food production possible. (Time for video: 59:17)
