Friday, April 11, 2008 Group opposes use of bio-fuels v. global warming
SEVERAL pro-environment groups may be advocating the use of bio-fuels to prevent global warming, but another is doing exactly the opposite.
Rey Barnido, a volunteer of Green Initiative of Baguio-Benguet, said the use of bio-fuels, such as ethanol, also has its downside especially in the preservation of lands for agricultural purposes.
A shift from rice or vegetable farming to ethanol-production (mainly corn) is now taking place and if this trend increases, a food shortage is a possibility, Bardino said.
"Overseas, some farmlands have been converted into the production of crops which can be processed into bio-fuels," he said.
"There is no universal solution at this point," said Barnido as he advised everyone to go back to a more practical way of saving the environment: "segregate garbage, walk if you don't see the need to ride and use the mass transport system instead of using your own car, implement sustainable development, shift to organic farming and have genuine love for the earth."
Asked about the attribution of rice shortage to unabated development of farmlands, the volunteer said the issue is political rather than an environmental one.
Barnido believed that there are enough lands where the crops can be planted but because is not being used properly.
Besides converting arable lands into housing and commercial sites, he said "even the agriculture system in the country has been overlooked."
Use of pesticides and fertilizers are promoted and single cropping is a practice among most farmers. He said this system while producing the food requirement of the country upsets the ecological balance.
Barnido stressed food production should never be at the expense of the environment.
The use of alternative fuel is being promoted by government and environmental advocate groups to decrease the level of air pollution emitted into the atmosphere.
"Fumes emitted by vehicles, factories, appliances, equipment and even ordinary household are said to emit greenhouse gases responsible for global warming. Erratic weather patterns, death of marine life are among the effects of global warming," environment experts said. (RO)
