| The
Real Scoop on Biofuels by Brian Tokar Common.
Dreams.org November 1,
2006 Genetic engineering,
which has utterly failed to produce
healthier or more sustainable food—and also failed to create a reliable
source of biopharmaceuticals without threatening the safety of our food
supply—is now being touted as the answer to sustainable biofuel
production. Union of Concerned Scientists. Biofuels based on corn, soybeans, or other biological materials are increasingly discussed as solutions to the problems of high gasoline prices, global warming, and geopolitical tensions. But like the production of pharmaceuticals and other industrial chemicals in plants, the large-scale development of agricultural biofuels poses a raft of technical and policy challenges. ... If genetic engineering of food crops for energy purposes does go forward, the acreage needed will be so large that contamination of the food and feed supply will be inevitable. We think our proposed ban is a good way to encourage the development non-food-crop alternatives such as switchgrass (either conventionally bred or perhaps genetically engineered) for energy use. In so doing, this ban will potentially preserve a piece of the U.S. Corn Belt for safe production of food and feed corn, which might be lost if corn engineered for energy purposes were commercialized on a large scale. Genetic Engineering for Modifying Fatty Acid Composition of Palm Oil. Advanced Biotechnology and Breeding Centre, Biological Research Division, Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB). Malaysia is the largest producer of palm oil in the world and contributing around half of the world's palm oil production. The major problems faced by the oil palm industry are labor and arable land shortages which have forced the industry to increase the return per unit area. Genetic engineering, as a promising approach to overcome the above problem; has been initiated at MPOB since late 1980’s. ... Palm oil is the second largest source of edible oil in the world, which is produced in the tropical countries ... Present oil palm planting materials are derived from a narrow gene pool, which restricts the introduction of new traits via conventional breeding techniques. The long generation time (approximately 7-10 years), and the open pollinated behaviour of oil palm contribute to the slowness of conventional genetic improvement methods besides requiring large amounts of planting material. All the above limitations make oil palm an ideal crop for the use of genetic engineering tools in its improvement. www.mete.mtesz.hu/pls/proceedings/eloadasok-pdf/o-7-3-parveez.pdf ................................................................................................................................................................................................................... |
|
||
| United Nations (UN) Technical Cooperation
among Developing Countries (TCDC). Oil Palm R&D: Malaysia The first commercial oil palm estate in Malaysia was set up in 1917 at Tennamaran Estate, Selangor. The growth of the industry has been phenomenal and Malaysia is now the largest producer and exporter of palm oil in the world, accounting for 52 percent of world production and 64 percent of world exports in 1997. However, since palm oil competes with 16 other oils and fats on the world market, R&D is important for sustaining the growth and competitiveness of the industry vis-u-vis other oils and fats. Potential threats such as shortage of labour and land, lack of information, skills and technology and other issues need to be addressed through R&D. ... An unusual problem facing development of the oil palm industry in Malaysia was that there was no existing progressive oil palm industry elsewhere in the world to use as a model or to turn to for advanced technologies or innovations. The oil palm is native to Africa but there was no large-scale commercial planting of the palm there and hence no advanced technologies. Malaysia was the first country to embark on large-scale planting and processing of oil palm. This brought with it the problem of the lack of readily available custom-made technologies or relevant existing R&D findings and technologies to support development of the industry. |
|||
| High-tech trees. For
biofuels to become mainstream fuels, they must become economically
competitive with petroleum, the liquid that quenches most vehicles'
thirst fairly inexpensively. Farmers, therefore, must start with
extremely hardy trees remarkably resistant to drought, insects, and
diseases that can produce high yields on many kinds of cropland. That
combination of attributes isn't normally found in nature, so
researchers must find ways to nurture it in the laboratory. It's a job for cutting-edge science. Using the same gene-mapping tools developed to unlock the secrets of human DNA, plant geneticists in Oak Ridge and at the University of Washington are probing the genes of fast-growing poplars. By finding the genes responsible for traits such as height, drought tolerance, and pest resistance, researchers can identify individual trees with particular promise, cross them with other trees that excel in other traits, and then produce genetically identical copies by the handful or by the hundred. Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) |
|||
| The Coming Biofuels Disaster by Joe
Brewer. June 27, 2007 Frankenfuel Monster The word biofuel tells us that the fuel is natural. Things that are natural are considered to be safer than things that are manufactured. This understanding of natural tells us that biofuels are better than manufactured fuels. The natural frame leads to two false impressions: Biofuels are presumed to be good for the environment Biofuels are presumed to be better for us than manufactured fuels The first impression is false because of the agricultural production systems we currently use. The second impression is false because biofuels are manufactured in two ways. First, the fuel is produced through an industrial refinement process where ethanol is extracted from plant materials. And second, there is considerable emphasis on genetically engineering plants to be grown as fuel sources. These plants – including corn, palm trees, switch grass, and algae – are not natural if they are the product of intentional design by genetic engineering. http://www.rockridgeinstitute.org/research/rockridge/coming-biofuels-disaster |
|||
| Biofuels: The Five Myths of the Agro-fuels
Transition By Eric Holt-Giménez. Global Research (June
30, 2007) The agro-fuel transition transforms land use on massive scales, pitting food production against fuel production for land, water and resources. The issue of which crops are converted to fuel is irrelevant. Wild plants cultivated as fuel crops won’t have a smaller “environmental footprint” because commercialization will transform their ecology. They will rapidly migrate from hedgerows and woodlots onto arable lands to be intensively cultivated like any other industrial crop—with all the associated environmental externalities. By genetically engineering plants with less lignin and cellulose, the industry aims to produce cellulosic agro-fuel crops that break down easily to liberate sugars, especially fast-growing trees. Trees are perennial and spread pollen father than food crops. Cellulosic candidates miscanthus, switch grass, and canary grass, are invasive species. Given the demonstrated promiscuity of genetically-engineered crops, we can expect massive genetic contamination. Monsanto and Syngenta will be quite pleased. Agro-fuels will serve as their genetic Trojan horse, allowing them to fully colonize both our fuel and food systems. |
