Today's biofuel crops may be tomorrow's weeds
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PM - Monday, 3 December , 2007 18:38:00
Reporter: Paula Kruger
MARK COLVIN: The Bali climate change summit started today and many of
those attending would be already aware that sometimes, the solution
can also be part of the problem.

One of the solutions proposed has been biofuel but biofuel can bring
its own devastation.

Thousands of hectares of forest in Indonesia, for instance, have been
logged to make way for biofuels.

There are also concerns about the environmental damage that biofuels
could cause in Australia.

Some of the plants being proposed as biofuel crops are weeds which
could have a devastating impact on wildlife across the country.

Paula Kruger reports.

PAULA KRUGER: The struggle to find alternative energy sources that
don't contribute to climate change has created a boom in biofuels.

This is something worries Tim Low from the Invasive Species Council.
He says some biofuel crops could have a devastating impact on the
Australian landscape.

TIM LOW: We don't have enough arable land. I mean that is very well
recognised by CSIRO so then you get the promotion of plants that are
highly weedy so they actually can be grown on marginal
non-agricultural land but that carries a very high weed risk.

PAULA KRUGER: Are there plants that you classify as weeds that are
being proposed right now as biofuel crops in Australia?

TIM LOW: Oh absolutely. The South Australian government is very
gung-ho about promoting giant reed. Now that is on the World
Conservation Union of 100 of the world's worst invaders.

Now their scientific unit SARDI has active trials underway right now
and this is a rank grass. It grows about seven or eight metres high
which has taken over waterways in California. In California they are
spending millions of dollars a year removing it. They have a
biological control program to bring in insects to eat it up. The South
Australian government is promoting it.

Then there is jatropha, which is a weed around the world that has been
declared a prohibited weed in Western Australia and the Northern
Territory. Queensland government is planning to allow trials and a
meeting will be held Thursday this week to consider the future of those.

This is very, very ongoing.

PAULA KRUGER: You have already raised concerns. You had a recent
report that raised your concerns about the weed potential in biofuels.
Have those concerns been taken seriously at this stage?

TIM LOW: They certainly are by government agencies. There is a lot of
scepticism so you've got public servants who are being told by their
governments to promote biofuels but they recognise exactly the kind of
problems that I am talking about.

I mean this information is very widespread in the literature but
because there is a popular demand to do something, politicians are
hearing that. They are offering investments, investment grants for
biofuels and so people need to acquit these grants even though in some
cases they personally recognise that there just doesn't seem to be
much in this.

PAULA KRUGER: So it is government funding that is driving an industry
that could cause a big environmental problem for Australia?

TIM LOW: That's right and that is certainly the case with jatropha
where I have actually talked to the officer who is dispensing grants.
I said look, why are getting behind jatropha, I mean this isn't the
right plan at all and he is saying that no-one else is applying for
the grant.

PAULA KRUGER: Deborah O'Connell from Sustainable Ecosystems at the
CSIRO says the weed risk, of biofuel crops are being taken seriously.

DEBORAH O'CONNELL: These new plants are one of a range of strategies
that we could have and I think they need to be evaluated not only for
their weed potential but also for their yield because at the moment, a
lot of the yield has been quoted very high numbers of four to 8,000
litres of oil per hectare are based largely on overseas results and
they haven't been looked at in Australia.

PAULA KRUGER: So there is still a lot more work to be done in
Australia when it comes to researching appropriate biofuel crops?

DEBORAH O'CONNELL: Absolutely, absolutely. There is a lot of work to
be done particularly in that area because we have very little idea of
the yields of those things as well as the biosecurity risks.

PAULA KRUGER: The Invasive Species council is calling on the new
federal government to form a steering committee that can work with the
states so there is a more cohesive policy on offering grants for
biofuel crops.

MARK COLVIN: Paula Kruger.
http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2007/s2108465.htm