The Grenelle had entrusted Ademe with the mission of studying the environmental balance of biofuels. The report given by the Agency, after nine months of studies and consultations, gives pride of place to the virtues of ethanols from wheat, corn or beet to the greatest satisfaction of the agricultural sector ...
They are the first to have reacted to the publication, at the end of last week, of the report of Ademe (French Environment and Energy Management Agency) on "Life Cycle Analyzes applied to biofuels of first generation consumed in France ". Welcoming the updated data published by Ademe, the General Confederation of Beet Planters (CGB), or the National Union of Agricultural Alcohol Producers (SNPAA) praised the "good environmental and energy balance sheet of the bioethanol sector". It reaffirms their faith in the only renewable and immediately available energy that is an alternative to gasoline by relying on the conclusions of the report on greenhouse gases (GHG): "Excluding land use change, the reduction in the level of greenhouse gas emissions is confirmed for all sectors, the gain they present being greater than the uncertainty or influence of the methodological choices. The exact level of reduction is more delicate to be evaluated and strongly depends on different hypotheses. The three parameters controlling these levels remain the agricultural yield per hectare, the fertilizer inputs and the related N2O emissions), as well as the intensity and the energy sources of the transformation process ".
The account is not there
If biofuels show a correct balance (60 to 80% less emissions), they owe it to corn, beet or wheat. The case is more delicate as soon as we look at the ETBE sector, which is another form of ethanol use. At the same time, the public authorities are highlighting the 71% increase in the volumes of agrofuels distributed in petrol stations. A volume which brings to 5,71% all biofuels sold in the country, A result very close to the 6,25% set as the 2010 objective by the government. The general satisfaction of the report does not, however, delve into the simple equation raised by NGOs and certain scientists: nearly 7% of biofuels (whose average coefficient is 60% of CO2 reduction) used in France in 2010, that only solves by 4% the level of GHG reduction in transport. Still too far from the start of a solution. Especially that the detractors of biofuels, see wider, and hammer out their leitmotif: the problem of land allocation. Friends of the Earth, for example, note: “If we include the effect of indirect land use change in the results of the study, the judgment is final: palm oil produced after shaving of forests, intended to produce agrofuels or to replace edible French rapeseed oil diverted for agrofuels, is a climate disaster! By integrating the emissions due to deforestation in Indonesia, the GHG balance of rapeseed oil is double that of the diesel it replaces ".
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