[R-G] Biofuels more harmful to humans than petrol and diesel, warn scientists

[Anthony Fenton]

Biofuels more harmful to humans than petrol and diesel, warn scientists
Corn-based bioethanol has higher burden on environment and human  
health, says US study

     * Alok Jha, green technology correspondent
     * guardian.co.uk, Monday 2 February 2009 22.05 GMT
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/feb/02/biofuels-health


Some biofuels cause more health problems than petrol and diesel,  
according to scientists who have calculated the health costs  
associated with different types of fuel.

The study shows that corn-based bioethanol, which is produced  
extensively in the US, has a higher combined environmental and health  
burden than conventional fuels. However, there are high hopes for the  
next generation of biofuels, which can be made from organic waste or  
plants grown on marginal land that is not used to grow foods. They  
have less than half the combined health and environmental costs of  
standard gasoline and a third of current biofuels.

The work adds to an increasing body of research raising concerns about  
the impact of modern corn-based biofuels.

Several studies last year showed that growing corn to make ethanol  
biofuels was pushing up the price of food. Environmentalists have  
highlighted other problems such deforestation to clear land for  
growing crops to make the fuels. The UK government's renewable fuels  
advisors recommended slowing down the adoption of biofuels until  
better controls were in place to prevent inadvertent climate impacts.

Using computer models developed by the US Environmental Protection  
Agency, the researchers found the total environmental and health costs  
of gasoline are about 71 cents (50p) per gallon, while an equivalent  
amount of corn-ethanol fuel has associated costs of 72 cents to $1.45,  
depending on how it is produced.

The next generation of so-called cellulosic bioethanol fuels costs 19  
cents to 32 cents, depending on the technology and type of raw  
materials used. These are experimental fuels made from woody crops  
that typically do not compete with conventional agriculture. The  
results are published online today in the Proceedings of the National  
Academy of Sciences.

"The dialogue so far on biofuels has been pretty much focused on  
greenhouse gases alone," said David Tilman, a professor at the  
department of ecology, evolution and behaviour at the University of  
Minnesota. "And yet we felt there were many other impacts that were  
positive or negative not being included. We wanted to expand the  
analysis from greenhouse gases to at least one other item and we chose  
health impacts."

The health problems caused by conventional fuels are well studied and  
stem from soot particles and other pollution produced when they are  
burned. With biofuels, the problems are caused by particles given off  
during their growth and manufacture.

"Corn requires nitrogen fertilisers and some of that comes on as  
ammonia, which is volatilised into the air," said Tilman. "The ammonia  
particles are charged and they attract fine dust particles. They stick  
together and form particles of the size of 2.5 micron and that has  
significant health impacts. Some of this gets blown by prevailing  
winds into areas of higher population density – that's where you have  
the large number of people having the health impact which raises the  
cost."

Health problems from biofuels and gasoline include increased cases of  
heart disease, respiratory symptoms, asthma, chronic bronchitis or  
premature death. The team has calculated the economic costs associated  
with these. "For the economy, it's the loss of good, productive  
workers who might otherwise have been able to contribute," said team  
member Jason Hill, an economist at the University of Minnesota's  
Institute on the Environment.

"These costs are not paid for by those who produce, sell and buy  
gasoline or ethanol. The public pays these costs," said Dr Stephen  
Polasky, an economist at the University of Minnesota, also part of the  
team.

A report published last year by Ed Gallagher, the head of the  
government's Renewable Fuels Agency, suggested that the introduction  
of biofuels to the UK should be slowed until more effective controls  
were in place to prevent the inadvertent rise in greenhouse gas  
emissions caused by, for example, the clearance of forests to make way  
for their production.

His report said that if the displacements were left unchecked, current  
targets for biofuel production could cause a global rise in greenhouse  
gas emissions and an increase in poverty in the poorest countries by  
2020.

Gallagher also suggested the government should introduce incentives to  
promote the production of next-generation biofuels of the type studied  
by the Minnesota researchers. So-called cellulosic ethanol can be made  
from plants such as switchgrass or jatropha that can grow with very  
little fertiliser on poor land, but the technology to convert these  
plants into fuels is in its early stages.

Tilman said society needed to make the transition away from corn-based  
ethanol as soon as possible.

"We've gone one step further than the work that only looked at  
greenhouse gases and found some surprisingly large effects. Before we  
dedicate major resources to new biofuels, we should be trying to  
quantify other likely impacts to society – water quality, biodiversity  
and so on – and put all of those into our analysis." He hopes this  
will encourage society to make "a long-term commitment to the right  
biofuel".

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About this article
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Biofuel health warning: some are more dangerous than petrol and diesel
This article was first published on guardian.co.uk at 22.05 GMT on  
Monday 2 February 2009. It was last updated at 11.36 GMT on Tuesday 3  
February 2009.
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