Biofuels Publications
Title: “Agrofuels in planes – heating the climate at a higher level”
Author: Milieu Defensie (FoE Netherlands), Evert Hassink
Date: February 2012
Length: 23 pages
Summary: The aviation industry places its hopes of achieving “carbon neutral growth” in future on extensive use of biofuels, as well as carbon offsets from other sectors. The new report shows that not only are the carbon emissions “well to wake” of biofuels for aviation small, but the conventional calculations ignore the non-CO2 effects – cirrus cloud induced by contrails, and NOx effects. These impacts are the same for biofuels as for conventional jet kerosene, and may as much as double the climate effect of jets flying at high altitude. The report points out that CO2emissions caused by the growing of biofuels are not accounted for anywhere, under the current system – creating a large anomaly in the EU ETS.
Link: Agrofuels in planes – heating the climate at a higher level
Title: “Bio-kerosene: take-off in the wrong direction” – FoE report
Author: Friends of the Earth Netherlands, and Friends of the Earth Indonesia
Date: February 2012
Length: 28 pages
Summary : This investigates the situation in Java, where jatropha and other crops are being grown to produce biokerosene for Lufthansa’s “Burn Fair” programme. The report finds that Javanese farmers and workers have converted some of their land from food to fuel crops, in return for ridiculously low payments. They have had a fall in income, conflict and frustration. Indonesian farmers feel the lifeblood of Indonesia will be tapped for the benefit of wealthier people in Europe and elsewhere. Biofuel crops are putting pressure on land for food. The report says this growing of biofuels for aviation fuel is putting a double pressure on the poor in the global south: both in climate change and food prices.
Link: Bio-kerosene: take-off in the wrong direction – FoE report
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Three short AirportWatch briefings on Biofuels and Aviation
(August 2011)
“Flying in the face of the facts – Greenwashing the aviation industry with biofuels”
Report by Friends of the Earth, Europe. June 2011
14 pages.
Flying in the face of the facts
and on the FoE Europe website at link
Greenpeace Briefing on Biofuels.
(November 2009)
4 pages
Greenpeace Briefing on Aviation and Biofuels
Biofuelwatch briefing
Biofuelwatch briefing on aviation biofuels Feb 2011
3 pages
Jatropha
Some information on jatropha as an aviation fuel (Jan 2009)
from the Guardian and other sources
“Greening of Aviation”
Text of Biofuelwatch presentation to AirportWatch conference)
by Deepak Rughani
Aviation and Biofuels presentation – March 2009 (with slides)
7 pages
Biofuels for Aviation: More Future Land Grabbing and Deforestation for Agrofuels
to Justify Today’s Airport Expansion?
Biofuelwatch
6 pages
Aviation Biofuels – Biofuelwatch briefing March 2009
IATA – Aviation industry point of view
IATA presentation on aviation biofuels Dec 2010
20 pages
SWAFEA final report July 2011
The Sustainable Way for Alternative Fuels and Energy for Aviation report, submitted to the European Commission, gives details of how they propose European aviation can get up to 2% of biofuels by 2020. They claim “sustainable” biofuel, in huge amounts, can be sourced. On aviation industry emissions reduction targets, the study finds that stabilisation of emissions at 2020 levels – using biofuels – would probably take well beyond 2030.and it sees some of the problems.