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Guaranteeing Sustainability for Agrofuels

Guaranteeing Sustainability for Agrofuels. Melanie Pichler melanie.pichler@univie.ac.at. Current strategies and problems. 4 th Bi-Regional EU-SEA S&T Stakeholders Conference. 16 November 2011. Outline.

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Guaranteeing Sustainability for Agrofuels

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  1. Guaranteeing Sustainability for Agrofuels Melanie Pichler melanie.pichler@univie.ac.at Current strategies and problems 4th Bi-Regional EU-SEA S&T Stakeholders Conference 16 November 2011

  2. Outline • Current situation of palm oil and agrofuel production in Southeast Asia and imports in the EU • Sustainability criteria and the RED • Guaranteing sustainability through certification? • ISCC • RSB • RSPO • Research needs and problems to address

  3. Global Agrofuel Production and the Connection to Southeast Asia • Agrofuels as a solution for climate change, energy shortages, economic and rural development • Leading role of the EU, US, and Brazil • Ambitious mandatory blending in the EU: 10% blending by 2020 • Southeast Asia (especially Indonesia and Malaysia) as leading producers and exporters of agrofuels out of palm oil  cheapest feedstock for biodiesel production

  4. Major Palm Oil Producing Countries, 2009 Source: FAOSTAT

  5. Palm Oil Production (in million tonnes) Source: FAOSTAT

  6. Area of Palm Oil Plantations (in million hectares) Source: FAOSTAT

  7. Source: EUROSTAT

  8. Biodiesel Production in Southeast Asia • Malaysia • production capacity of 2.27 million tonnes (6.79 million tonnes already approved) (MPOB 2011) • Indonesia • production capacity of 3.4 million tonnes (IPOB 2011) • Singapore • no feedstock production but processing and trading biodiesel hub • world‘s largest biodiesel plant with a production capacity of 800.000 tonnes (Neste Oil Corporation)

  9. EU imports of biodiesel • Biodiesel imports rising sharply while domestic production is declining • Imports will increase to a record of 2.52 million tonnes in 2011 21% increase from 2010 • Expected 60% increase to 830,000 tonnes of biodiesel from Indonesia and Singapur (516,000 tonnes in 2010) (Reuters 2011)

  10. Sustainability Criteria in the RED I • 10% agrofuels in the transporation sector by 2020 • Second generation agrofuels count double towards the target • Mass balance method to guarantee sustainability • GHG emission savings at least 35% (article 17(2)) • Default value for palm-based biodiesel set at 19% • Major lobbying activities from Indonesia and Malaysia • EU accused of „green protectionism“

  11. Sustainability Criteria in the RED II • exclusion of agrofuels grown on land that used to be primary forest, protected area or highly biodiverse grassland (article 17(3)) • Confusion on definition • No recognition of indirect land-use changes (ILUC) • Exclusion of ILUC at least until 2017 despite scientific evidence for the problem • No need for guaranteeing social sustainability of agrofuels (human rights, land rights etc.)

  12. International Sustainability and Carbon Certification – ISCC • German-led initiative • Recognition from the EU on 19 July 2011 • Especially designed for RED certification of agrofuels (both for fuel and electricity) • Leading Southeast Asian plantation and refining companies are already certified (Neste Oil Singapore, Wilmar, IOI etc.)

  13. Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels – RSB • International multi-stakeholder initiative • Recognition for RED sustainability criteria on 19 July 2011 • Especially pushed by the Brazilian ethanol industry (sugar cane) • Certification of all kind of agrofuels will start soon • Palm oil not a priority feedstock

  14. Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil – RSPO • Multi-stakeholder initiative (growers, manufacturers, retailers, banks, environmental and social NGOs) • Founded in 2004, mainly initiated by Unilever, WWF and the Malaysian palm oil industry • initially set up for voluntary standards in the food and cosmetics sector • 2 additional working groups to guarantee compliance with RED and GHG emission savings of palm oil above 19% • Confident to achieve recognition by the end of 2011

  15. Criticism towards the RSPO • Voluntary character of certification • Only agrofuels need to be certified • Membership not equivalent to certification • Business-to-business approach • Companies themselves decide on rules they have to follow • Certification of smallholders as a major problem • Especially independent smallholders lack institutional capacity

  16. Guaranteeing Sustainability through certification? • Certification currently the only way to deal with the complex issue of sustainability • Many macro-impacts of agrofuels can‘t be addressed at an individual certification level • Narrowing down of sustainability to GHG emissions clouds deeper problems of current mobility patterns

  17. Research needs and problems to address • Root causes for social and environmental problems on a local-global level • Focus on conflicts and root causes of conflicts instead of „cures“ with questionable means • Focus on marginalized social groups that don‘t benefit from the current system • Interconnection between environmental and social problems • Questioning centralized and large-scale solutions in energy and agricultural policies

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