“End Fossil Fuel Subsidies” Emerges as Rio+20 Theme; PANGEA Says Focus on “Best Practices” for Biofuels
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Brazil, “end fossil fuel subsidies” has emerged as a theme at the Rio+20 Summit is underway, where a flash mob of protesters, organized by Earth Day, 350.org and youth groups attending the summit protested $1 trillion per year in subsidies that they said posed a significant barrier to the adioption of clean energy.
…Meanwhile, PANGEA distributed its position paper, “Encouraging sustainable bioenergy to ensure energy access in developing countries”, … READ MORE and MORE (ThinkProgress.org/The Huffington Post) Download PANGEA paper
Excerpt from PANGEA paper: At the same time, care should be taken to understand why some biofuels projects have not been successful, realising that biofuels themselves are not at the root of the problem, but that issues such as a lack of secure land rights, a lack of functional and consistent institutional frameworks, the failure of stakeholders to remain transparent throughout land transactions, insufficient community consultation and a deficiency in application of rules regarding environmental and social impact assessments are often at the forefront of the bioenergy sector’s problems. Additionally, consumption patterns should be considered for both food and fuel, reducing wastage and improving efficiency is crucial.
Solutions to these problems must be found to prevent the biofuels industry from being undermined and from being naively held responsible for inadequacies in other sectors. READ MORE
