Dutch Government Pushes for Bio-Fuel Tracking System

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands — Unregulated development of bio-fuels could cause more environmental harm than good, according to a Dutch governmental report on the sustainable production of biomass fuels.

The Cramer commission’s report unveiled a framework of stringent criteria for the development and production of bio-fuels as a sustainable alternative source of global energy.

The report, released in April, recommends a tracking system to follow bio-fuel products from field to power plant to ensure adherence to sustainability criteria — a system similar to the one used to combat BSE in the cattle industry.

Companies would use the proposed framework on a voluntary basis to verify and measure the sustainability of crops used for bio-fuel purposes. However, government agencies or independent monitors could also have an oversight role under the system.

The framework evaluates bio-fuel and fossil fuel based on emissions reductions and several types of other environmental impact assessments.

For biomass to be considered a sustainable energy alternative, its production must not contribute to deforestation, displace food crops or local populations or degrade soil or water supplies, the report states.

The criteria would require that bio-fuel plantations to be located away from protected areas and 10 percent of a plantation’s area be left in its original state to preserve biodiversity.

The Dutch commission spent more than 12 months examining the complexities and consequences of using biomass fuels as a means of reducing global carbon emissions and slowing climate change.

Many view the fuel as a potential magic-bullet substitute that could end the reliance on fossil fuels that produce greenhouse gases.

However, in the rush to develop production capacity in a lucrative sector, enormous tracts of forest have been stripped or burned to make land available for fuel-producing crops in Asia and Latin America.

Other European Union states are working to deal with the dilemma of climate change and sustainable energy solutions, but the Dutch initiative is the first to reach the level of governmental consideration. The Netherlands is Europe’s largest importer of palm oil.

The European Union has set high carbon emission reduction targets for the next 10 years, which require the use of alternative and sustainable energy sources, such as bio-fuels.