GoodFuels

Deforestation debunked

Worried about Brazilian deforestation? Don’t blame ethanol.

Environmental activists and other anti-ethanol interests attempt to vilify biofuels in part out of their concerns about Amazon deforestation. But is ethanol the real culprit? A recent article from DTN reporter Kieran Gartlan exposes the real factors behind deforestation in Brazil.

Gartlan writes that U.S. corn exports have remained steady, U.S. soybean exports have increased and Brazilian acreage in both crops has remained steady or even decreased. At the same time, “Amazon deforestation has fallen for the past five years, from 10,588 square miles in 2004 to 4,620 square miles last year, according to figures from Brazil’s National Institute of Space Research (INPE).”

Gartlan also reports that “a study carried out by the Soybean Work Group (GTS) earlier this year showed that of 630 samples of deforested areas since July 2006 only 12 had gone to soybeans and 200 to cattle. The remaining 418, or 70 percent, were unused indicating that the main reason for cutting down trees was for timber and land grabbing.”

Clearly, the expansion of the biofuels industry worldwide, let alone in the U.S., has nothing to do with the motives of those clearing Amazon rainforest. Consider this another myth about ethanol busted.

The entire story, courtesy of DTN, can be read here.