Bali summit debates merits of biofuel

Updated December 03, 2007 22:15:00

The Bali climate change summit has started and one of the solutions proposed has been biofuel, but biofuel can bring its own devastation.

Source: PM | Duration: 3min 58sec

Topics: weeds, biotechnology-industry, climate-change, biotechnology, bali, australia


MARK COLVIN: The Bali climate change summit started today and many of those attending would be already aware that sometimes, the solution can also be part of the problem.

One of the solutions proposed has been biofuel but biofuel can bring its own devastation.

Thousands of hectares of forest in Indonesia, for instance, have been logged to make way for biofuels.

There are also concerns about the environmental damage that biofuels could cause in Australia.

Some of the plants being proposed as biofuel crops are weeds which could have a devastating impact on wildlife across the country.

Paula Kruger reports.

PAULA KRUGER: The struggle to find alternative energy sources that don't contribute to climate change has created a boom in biofuels.

This is something worries Tim Low from the Invasive Species Council. He says some biofuel crops could have a devastating impact on the Australian landscape.

TIM LOW: We don't have enough arable land. I mean that is very well recognised by CSIRO so then you get the promotion of plants that are highly weedy so they actually can be grown on marginal non-agricultural land but that carries a very high weed risk.

PAULA KRUGER: Are there plants that you classify as weeds that are being proposed right now as biofuel crops in Australia?

TIM LOW: Oh absolutely. The South Australian government is very gung-ho about promoting giant reed. Now that is on the World Conservation Union of 100 of the world's worst invaders.

Now their scientific unit SARDI has active trials underway right now and this is a rank grass. It grows about seven or eight metres high which has taken over waterways in California. In California they are spending millions of dollars a year removing it. They have a biological control program to bring in insects to eat it up. The South Australian government is promoting it.

Then there is jatropha, which is a weed around the world that has been declared a prohibited weed in Western Australia and the Northern Territory. Queensland government is planning to allow trials and a meeting will be held Thursday this week to consider the future of those.

This is very, very ongoing.

PAULA KRUGER: You have already raised concerns. You had a recent report that raised your concerns about the weed potential in biofuels. Have those concerns been taken seriously at this stage?

TIM LOW: They certainly are by government agencies. There is a lot of scepticism so you've got public servants who are being told by their governments to promote biofuels but they recognise exactly the kind of problems that I am talking about.

I mean this information is very widespread in the literature but because there is a popular demand to do something, politicians are hearing that. They are offering investments, investment grants for biofuels and so people need to acquit these grants even though in some cases they personally recognise that there just doesn't seem to be much in this.

PAULA KRUGER: So it is government funding that is driving an industry that could cause a big environmental problem for Australia?

TIM LOW: That's right and that is certainly the case with jatropha where I have actually talked to the officer who is dispensing grants. I said look, why are getting behind jatropha, I mean this isn't the right plan at all and he is saying that no-one else is applying for the grant.

PAULA KRUGER: Deborah O'Connell from Sustainable Ecosystems at the CSIRO says the weed risk, of biofuel crops are being taken seriously.

DEBORAH O'CONNELL: These new plants are one of a range of strategies that we could have and I think they need to be evaluated not only for their weed potential but also for their yield because at the moment, a lot of the yield has been quoted very high numbers of four to 8,000 litres of oil per hectare are based largely on overseas results and they haven't been looked at in Australia.

PAULA KRUGER: So there is still a lot more work to be done in Australia when it comes to researching appropriate biofuel crops?

DEBORAH O'CONNELL: Absolutely, absolutely. There is a lot of work to be done particularly in that area because we have very little idea of the yields of those things as well as the biosecurity risks.

PAULA KRUGER: The Invasive Species council is calling on the new federal government to form a steering committee that can work with the states so there is a more cohesive policy on offering grants for biofuel crops.

MARK COLVIN: Paula Kruger.