british firms in the mix for african biofuel plantations

[ecuworrier]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/may/31/biofuel-plantations-africa-british-firms

hey is this the new salvation .. or just post colonialism colonialism by the back door... is this the answer to all our problems as well as helping the third world... what do folks think ... we have been a little concerned about our fuel prices ...


GOD BLESS!

Peace and Love,

[AndyHB]

Nothing to do with post-colonial colonialism, ecu.  It's time you moved out of the 19th century and into the 20th century, let alone the 21st!!  This is all about globalisation and transnational corporations trying to find the cheapest sources of resources.  It will make precious little difference to fuel/energy prices.

Instead, we need to be pushing our own Governments to empower those who wish to cut the astronomical waste that leads to excessive fuel usage in the West.

[AndrewF]

Bio-fuel = starvation for a large chunk of the third world, as subsistence food production is replaced by large establishments buying the land to produce grain/palm oil/whatever to turn into fuel for the developed nations.
NO we should NOT be doing this - and it is only being done because there are huge govt subsidies which make it viable, in order to reduce our carbon footprint. The fact that the embedded carbon means that burning this sort of fuel is far from carbon-neutral doesn't worry our govt, as that carbon is being expended by another country and does not show up on our books!
The whole thing stinks and is a travesty of justice.