Green fuel - a dangerous profit

Today's environmental debate is mainly about carbon emissions. Most of us find it hard to grasp complex environmental issues and put our trust in research and policy analysis. So what should we make of the "green motorists" and environmentalists who have led us to believe that ethanol is a safe environmental choice. Are they right or wrong?

Sören Wibe, professor of forest economics at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in Umeå, is the author of the report "The ethanol carbon power". He suggests that it will take 50-60 years before ethanol can potentially diminish our carbon footprint. But production of ethanol also claims arable land. The production of crops used in the manufacture of ethanol increases carbon emission and the heavily subsidized ethanol market is driving up the price of food. The poor of the world will certainly not profit.

Ethanol has an adverse effect on health. Dr Fiorella Belpoggi Director at the Cancer Research Centre of the Ramazzini Institute in Italy, one of Europe's leading cancer research centers, says that ethanol emits carcinogenic chemicals like acetaldehyde and formaldehyde during combustion. These substances circulate inside the car until the carburetor is warm - which takes about 30 minutes. These aldehydes are carcinogenic and pose a serious health risk to the people in the car but also to the environment outside. It seems naïve to try and stop carbon emissions without taking into account the negative health effects to the people and environment exposed to its toxins.

Ethanol can be produced from many different sources. In Sweden ethanol is mainly produced from sugar cane which has a less negative effect on the environment but is still a serious health risk. Ethanol made from waste or algae is another interesting environmental fuel source but unfortunately also emits carcinogens during combustion. The imbalance of consumed and produced CO₂ is on the other hand positive. Ethanol produced from algae and garbage has the added advantage of removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by photosynthesis during production.

Regardless of the source ethanol is a serious health hazard. Belpoggi insists that all fuel development should undergo extensive biomedical research in order to eliminate or at least reduce all potential risks before being marketed. Current Italian research warns of severe health risks associated with the use of biofuels and calls for greater caution when looking for sustainable environmental solutions.

Belpoggi and Wibe both point out another negative aspect of ethanol. The use of crops in biofuel production will potentially increase hunger in the world. An article in Science magazine 2008 also revealed that if rainforests, peat lands, savannas or grasslands were converted into crops such as corn, soybeans or wheat, in order to produce biofuels, it would create  a "biofuel carbon debt" releasing between 17 to 420 more times CO₂ than the annual reduction expected by replacing fossil fuels with biofuels.

We need to reconsider the current environmental road we are travelling in Sweden and change course before we regret it. Human health is an integral part of a healthy environment and the future of mankind.