GM-free Scotland

News | Farmer Scott Power

Scottish Power has announced it is turning taking up farming.

Plans are underway to grow 250,000 tonnes of energy crops to fuel Scotland's two coal-fired power stations, Cockenzie and Longannet. Starting in 2009, the aim is to use politically correct, carbon-neutral fuel to replace 5 per cent of coal used by 2013, and to displace 300,000 tonnes of carbon-emissions per year. The Company claims this will have minimal effect on land used for food crops.

Such 'first generation' biofuels have potentially useful by-products, such as petrol and diesel supplements and animal feed, and have the potential to be more sustainable than any mined fuels. However, the overall farm-to-light-bulb efficiency and carbon balance are highly variable: they will depend, for example, on the soil and weather conditions, location and transport method, the crop variety and farming practice chosen, and the amount of processing needed to convert the raw materials to a usable form.

OUR COMMENT

Our current staples, oil and coal, are predicted to become progressively more difficult and expensive to extract in the foreseeable future. A recent report by an Oxford Research Group concluded that the proposal to use nuclear power to reduce carbon emissions was a “pipe dream”, since the rate of construction of such power stations needed to have any effect was totally unfeasible.

In the long-term, neither first generation biofuels from crops grown especially for the purpose, nor second generation biofuels from waste biomass are ever likely to be suitable for large-scale energy production (see BIOFUELS: THE SUMS DON'T ADD UP – News, May 2007).

However, biofuel which is carbon-friendly, or at least less unfriendly than coal and oil, may well be a useful or even essential stop-gap measure until we restructure our national grid to tap into truly sustainable and varied sources of energy.

Always keep in mind that biofuels must not be allowed to divert our attention away from physical sources of energy. Wind, water, wave and the sun are the only sustainable power generators and will have to become the dominant options.

Here's some food for thought. One of the most exciting proposals to date is the possibility of harnessing the solar energy relentlessly falling onto the desserts every year (equivalent to 1.5 million barrels of oil per square kilometre). This massive power source could be used to supply electricity to far-flung regions using high-voltage DC transmission lines, while the land beneath the shaded areas would be available for agricultural use, especially if coupled to a desalination system to supply fresh water to the area.

However, back in Scotland and the present, you have FOUR BIG QUESTIONS to ask Scottish Power:

  1. At a time when local organic agriculture is a leading area of economic expansion in Scotland, land use is set to change radically. What does Scottish Power mean by “minimal” effects on land used?

  2. Biofuels have been used as an excuse by the US to promote GM crops in its own lands and throughout South America (see THE TRANSGENISATION OF SOUTH AMERICA – News, May 2007). Ask Scottish Power for a guarantee that it will neither promote nor condone the use of GM crops as biofuels.

  3. All biofuels need extensive processing before they are useable. This can involve micro-organisms adapted for use by genetic transformation. Ask for Scottish Power's guarantee that it will not promote nor condone the use of GM microbes in biofuel production methods unless complete containment is practically possible to achieve.

  4. Make sure Scottish Power is keeping an eye on the much bigger, long-term picture of using physical energy sources in future.

It is worth mentioning to your MSP that the Scottish Executive should be keeping a hand on the reigns of Scottish Power's use of our agricultural land, especially any temptation to use GM for non-food crops, and should ensure that real long-term energy solutions take a priority.

Remember that GM crops grown for biofuels could well end up in your food chain, either directly on your plate, in animal feed, or through genetic contamination; they will also end up as dust in the air, in your eyes and lungs, and as soil matter. Be pro-active in ensuring none of these things happen: prevention is better than cure, and self-replicating problems are often not curable at all.

SOURCES

About Us | Contact Us |2007 GM-free Scotland