Journal or Publishing Institution: Capitalism Nature Socialism
Study: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10455750802348796#.Uxydi_ldVp0
Author(s): Petermann, A. and Tokar, B.
Article Type: Report
Record ID: 1889
Text: As food riots spread across the globe in response to skyrocketing prices and shortages resulting from mounting competition between food and crop-based agrofuels, the cellulosic ethanol industry is heavily promoting fuel produced from trees as the solution to this conflict. However, ethanol from trees is not a solution. Rather, it will have dangerous ecological impacts as well as harm indigenous and rural communities. In many countries, industrial timber plantations already compete with agricultural land. And as oil prices continue to hit record highs, the lure of enormous profits is greatly increasing incentives for ethanol-producing tree plantations, which can only exacerbate the competition for land between timber plantations and agriculture. Under this scenario, we can expect to see accelerated deforestation and illegal logging in forests all over the world, with serious consequences for forest biological diversity, forest-dependent communities, and the climate…
Keywords: GE trees, cellulosic ethanol, forest biological diversity, forest destruction, industrial timber, timber plantations
Citation: Petermann, A. and Tokar, B., 2008. GE Trees, Cellulosic Ethanol, and the Destruction of Forest Biological Diversity. Capitalism Nature Socialism, 19(3), pp.48-64.
