The Ecological Society of America says the country is rushing toward using biofuels as a replacement for petroleum without fully studying environmental sustainability. More-intensive cultivation of crops for fuel may accelerate soil erosion and damage to wildlife habitats and water quality, the society said in a written statement.
“There isn’t enough ecological research about the impact of doing this at the large scale,” said William J. Parton, a senior research scientist at Colorado State University and the society’s vice president for finance, in an interview. One outcome could be “an ecological disaster,” and more federal spending for such research is needed, he said.
Presidential candidates are touting biofuels, like ethanol derived from corn, as an antidote to America’s reliance on imported oil. Universities and corporations are rushing to support research to produce ethanol more cheaply. The ecological society’s views carry weight because it represents 10,000 scientists, and Mr. Parton said the society hoped its statement would attract attention from policy makers.
The statement cites “great potential” for biofuels but also downsides from increased cultivation of corn, such as runoff of fertilizers into streams. In addition, the federal government subsidizes corn production for ethanol, giving farmers an incentive to resume farming lands now protected by federal conservation programs. Much of this acreage offers habitats for birds and other wildlife.
Some scientists say those environmental impacts might lessen if producers cultivated plants other than corn, like prairie grasses, to make ethanol. However, converting such crops into ethanol is technically difficult and more expensive than using corn. Even if researchers solve those problems, environmental risks may remain, Mr. Parton said, because prairie grass also offers wildlife habitats.
The federal government has not released a tally of its total spending to study the ecological sustainability of growing crops for biofuels. However, one of the government’s few such efforts will take place at the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, led by the University of Wisconsin at Madison. The center is one of three consortia financed by the Energy Department with $125-million over five years to study biofuels. The Wisconsin-led center will make the environmental sustainability of biofuels production one of five research “thrust areas.” —Jeffrey Brainard
