The mission is in question

Well, when we formulated the plan that I'd come here particularly to work on agrofuel related human rights abuses, it was so that I could feed into campaigning in the UK against the EU target of 2.5% of fuel from petrol pumps as biofuels from April this year.

When we formulated the plan, there seemed to be not such a widespread awareness of the problems biofuels were creating in the tropics, or the fact that, (especially where peat is being drained in Indonesia), they might well be contributing to climate change more than decreasing greenhouse gas emissions.

However, it seems that while I was on the boat on my way here, things have kind of kicked off in a way that may mean there's less of a need for me to be banging on about agrofuels to you all. Dr. Hartmut Michel, 1998 Nobel Prize winner for chemistry, has said they're quite a rubbish source of energy and there are far better things to focus on, like wind power. The Royal Society released a report saying that the UK's Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) does not necessarily encourage the use of the types of biofuels with the best greenhouse gas savings. And EU Environment Commissioner Dimas has said that given the social and environmental impacts of biofuels, maybe it's best we don't try too hard to meet the EU targets right now.

Still lots of work to be done, especially given that there are plenty of driving factors pushing agrofuels (eg fuel security & profit) other than whether Europeans think it's an environmentally good idea. And the EU targets are still in place. But perhaps as there are now so many other voices shouting loudly, mine is not as needed.

In any case, it maybe that people here would prefer me to be working on BP's involvement in human rights abuses where it's pumping oil out of the rainforest. So perhaps the title of my blog may become a bit irrelevant. We´ll see.