Vital Forest Graphics

Solid biomass consumption

including woodfuel

Clearing forests for biofuels

To meet growing global energy demand, forest resources are increasingly exploited and forests are clear-cut to pave the way for biofuel crops

< uelwood and charcoal from for- ests have long provided energy for heating, cooking and industry. Almost 90 per cent of the wood harvested in Africa, and 40 per cent in Asia and the Pacific, is used for fuel (FAO 2006a). Wood pellets, typically produced in North America and Europe from saw- dust and other timber by-products, are increasingly used in stoves, boilers and power stations (Peksa-Blanchard et al . 2007). New technologies are also being developed in connection with the production of liquid and gaseous fuels from wood products (FAO 2008). This growing demand for wood products requires careful management of forest resources in order to mini- mize negative impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem services. Certification schemes for sustainable forest man- agement can help to address this issue, though such schemes at present cover only a small portion – 7.6 per cent – of the world’s forested areas. Demand for land for agricultural and plantation crops, including production of biomass for energy, is putting increas- ing pressure on forests. Energy security concerns, high oil prices and climate mitigation policies aimed at replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy, have all led to a greater interest in biofuels. The transport sector is using increasing quantities of ethanol, mainly produced from sugar cane, corn and cassava, as

a substitute for petrol (gasoline), and biodiesel, produced from plantation crops such as oil palm, coconuts and avocados. Fuel ethanol production tripled between 2000 and 2007, mainly in the United States and Brazil, while biodiesel output expanded even more rapidly over the same period, from less than 1 billion to almost 11 billion litres per year (IEA 2004). The liquid biofuel market has been stimulated by grow- ing demand in particular in China and Brazil, and by recent and anticipated legislation in the US and Europe that sets ambitious goals for this sector. Increasing demand for biofuels has led to more land being converted to agricultural use. According to the International Energy Agency, replace- ment of 10 per cent of transport fuel with biofuels by 2020 would require the equivalent of 43 per cent of current cropland in the US and 38 per cent of that in the EU (IEA 2004). To meet such biofuel demand without jeopardising global food supplies, natural ecosys- tems such as forests would need to be cleared (Eickhout et al . 2008; Fargione et al . 2008; Kanninen et al . 2007). While concerns over climate change have led to a greater focus on renew- able energy sources such as biofuels, the carbon emissions associated with deforestation are greater than those avoided by using biofuels from agri- cultural crops. (Righelato and Sprack-

:VSPK IPVTHZZ JVUZ\TW[PVU PU PU VM [OL [V[HS LULYN` JVUZ\TW[PVU 0 or not significant 2 to 10% 10 to 40% More than 40% No data

Source: World Resources Institute (WRI) searchable database.

len 2007). It is estimated that carbon emissions from conversion of rain- forest, peatland, savanna or grassland for liquid biofuel production in Bra- zil, Southeast Asia and the US would release 17 to 420 times more CO 2 than the annual greenhouse gas (GHG) savings from avoidance of fossil fuels (Fargione et al . 2008). Oil palm devel- opment on forested peatland is another area of concern (Parish et al ., 2008). Agriculture is also the main source of nitrous oxide (N 2 O), a potent green- house gas released by nitrogen fertil- izers. In particular, the N 2 O emissions associated with rapeseed and maize cultivation for biofuel production out- weigh the carbon savings from fossil fuel substitution (Crutzen et al . 2008).

30 VITAL FOREST GRAPHICS