[Regarding the claim by conference organiser Richard Price that the
Expo was solely about biofuels from waste, see the conference
programme here: www.biodiesel- expo.co.uk/ conference_ biofuels. php ,
which shows that the focus was largely on biofuel market expansion,
including vegetable oil for heat and power, with a strong emphasis on
jatropha - clearly not biofuels from waste! - Almuth]
http://www.guardian .co.uk/environme nt/2008/oct/ 16/activists- biofuelsJohn Vidal, environment editor
Photo:
Protesters mount the roof at the European Biofuels Expo in
Nottinghamshire. Photograph: Action Against Agrofuel
Europe's largest conference on biofuels was brought to a halt this
morning when environmental activists invaded the main hall and accused
the industry of
destroying rainforests, evicting communities, and
increasing hunger and climate change around the world.
As six protesters from a group calling itself Action against Agrofuels
climbed into the rafters of the main conference hall in Newark,
Nottinghamshire, other activists at the European Biofuels Expo set off
rape alarms inside the centre.
"It is unacceptable that the biofuels industry should hold a
conference where it portrays itself as 'green'," said John Simmons , a
protester, from the roof of the Newark building.
According to a recent World Bank report, 75% of recent global food
price rises are attributable to the increasing use of biofuels for
transport, which have taken over tens of millions of acres of land
previously used to grow food.
"We are incensed that this trade show has been timed to coincide with
UN world food day, given that 100 million extra people are going
hungry this year
alone," said another activist.
Richard Price, the organiser of the conference, said: "They [the
protesters] misunderstand what the event is. It's about using waste
products to create energy. Most people here are using waste fuels.
This is not to do with large-scale destruction of the forests.
"I have invited them to take part in the conference debates, but they
have not yet replied."
The UK government, which is one of the sponsors of the conference, is
committed to substituting 10% of all transport fuels with biofuels,
but a major review of the target earlier this year exposed deep
concerns about the social and environmental impact of growing the crops.
Yesterday the government announced a consultation into biofuels
targets in the UK, but it did not include the option of scrapping them
altogether.
A new report from Oxfam today declared that nearly 1 billion people
now go hungry around the
world.
Offline 
Send Email