Direct land use change
We work hard to gather credible information about the origin of the biofuel we use and about the land on which the crops were produced. We do this by requesting information from our suppliers, but also wherever possible by carrying out land use audits involving site visits to the fields and plantations where the crops are grown. Land use audits have been carried for the vast majority of our bioethanol suppliers in Brazil (sugar cane) and also for some of our soy and palm biodiesel suppliers.
We are also working to create a map of existing biological carbon reserves using satellite imagery. This will help us identify those areas in the world where biological carbon is most at risk as well as areas where biological carbon stocks are or have potential to increase. Our intention is that the map can be used by ourselves and by others to risk-assess the different biofuel feedstocks we buy.
The map below shows the location of the mills in Brazil from which we purchase bioethanol (derived from sugar cane). In some cases the mills are located close to areas of forests, which are dense carbon reserves. In such cases we seek to understand the impact of the mills on the local area through site visits and in many cases we have found that the mills are managing the establishment of new forest areas (Legal Reserves). In no instance have we found evidence of forest land being cleared to create new sugar plantations.
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Indirect land use change
Over the last couple of years there has been increasing debate about the indirect impacts of agricultural products, whether for human food, animal food or biofuels on land use. Whilst much of the debate has focused on the negative potential of land use change, it has been theoretical in nature with little or no reference to evidence from actual land use change emissions.
At Greenergy we wish to understand to the best of our ability the impact of our industry on the planet. As a company we base our decisions on scientific evidence and facts, rather than theoretical predictions. Therefore we have been applying our resources to help quantify the ILUC effects of biofuels and other agricultural and human land use activities through measurement and analysis of actual changes. In particular we are working to:
- Understand the different causes of land use change and the role of biofuels relative to other factors such as rising demand for meat and timber and changes in levels of subsistence farming;
- Begin to quantify the indirect land use change emissions associated with increased biofuel usage in the world relative to other demands on land use change;
- Develop a methodology that we, and others, can apply to the biofuels we supply; and
- Encourage others to adopt and improve our methodology.
The methodology we have developed seeks to attribute actual and use change emissions to different causes. We believe this approach is preferable to economic models which seek to predict the market effect of increased demand for biofuel on different crops in different countries and which are likely to be hotly contested. Our approach has been peer reviewed and we have consulting stakeholders including the UK Government, European Commission and interested industrial and NGO parties.
Our approach includes processes for attributing different land use change emissions to different causes. We have therefore commissioned research to determine whether it is possible to use satellite imagery to measure the actual land use change impact of particular crops, and therefore to calculate actual (as opposed to predicted) land use change GHG emission factors on a regional basis. |
