Nourriture ou biocarburants : Faudra-t-il choisir ?

Abstract

Around the whole world, land is being submitted to conflicts of interest which are exacerbated by the rapid increase in world population, by the desire of all humans to have sufficient amounts of higher quality food, and by the increase in energy demand, specially for biofuels for transport. Currently used biofuels (ethanol and biodiesel) are made from a feedstock also used as human food. The objective of providing a part, even rather small, of the fuel needed for transport necessarily requires huge areas of good quality land. It also raises very serious environmental problems. On an average, indeed, current biofuels lead to rather deceptive energy balances, and they do not lead to any significant reduction in the emission of greenhouse gases. Studies by various authors indicate a large range of uncertainty as to the capability of agriculture and forestry to satisfy all the human needs that depend on biomass in a sustainable manner. Facing the rapid development of biofuels, the precautionary principle should be applied to soils and more generally to agriculture in order to durably answer the mandatory food requirements of the earth. Other arrangements should be implemented to reduce energy consumption in transport.