Saudi Arabia’s Oil Minister Ali I. al-Naimi has dismissed the idea of mandating costly alternatives to oil in the name of a cleaner environment, saying such a move could actually impoverish people and lower living standards.
“I believe that we should not impoverish people in the name of a cleaner environment,” Al-Naimi told an energy conference last week. “Lowering living standards, or limiting people’s ability to rise out of poverty, in order to improve the environment trades one potential health hazard for another.”
That may be, but people around the globe already are looking into mandating the development of alternative fuels-especially in the European Union.
European Union officials want member governments to support plans by the European Commission to promote biofuels in the 25-nation bloc and outside it, mainly in developing countries, which officials said would be key in providing the raw materials to make the fuels.
No illusions
EU officials are under no illusions about making biofuels a viable alternative to oil, saying millions of euros would have to be invested in research and development to meet a goal of getting a 5.75% biofuel content in fuels by 2010.
That’s a long way from the current 1.4% that the EU can currently deliver, a point acknowledged by Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel, who is leading the European Commission’s plans to introduce widespread use of biofuels.
“We are actually at this stage far from the targets set,” Boel said.
Touching on the idea of mandating change to reach those targets, Boel said targets set in 2003 were not mandatory and were likely to go unheeded by EU governments.
Mandatory targets
In a word, she said, unless EU governments commit to binding agreements, enforced by the EC, the targets will not be met. She advised that “there will be discussions internally whether to make the targets mandatory...or maybe go further,” she said.
Not waiting to see how far such discussions will go, one firm based in the EU is already looking to enter the market with biodiesel created from raw materials grown in the developing world.
India’s Williamson Magor & Co. Ltd. has entered into a memorandum of understanding with UK-based global producer of biodiesel D1 Oils PLC to form a joint venture company.
The JV would develop, promote, and facilitate jatropha plantations in northeastern India and arrange for necessary logistics and facilities for production of biodiesel from the oil seeds harvested by the farmers.
Williamson Magor’s idea may actually increase the number of employed people since the company plans to grow jatropha on its own unused tea plantations in Shillong, Meghalaya, and Arunachal Pradesh.
Will it be cost-effective? “We feel that the rising costs of fuel in this part of the world would increase the significance of such alternative fuel sources,” said Williamson Magor Director Aditya Khaitan. ✦