Invasive Species Council - Weedy Truth About Biofuels

Hot Issues
- The Weedy Truth About Biofuels
________________________________________________
This report, by the Invasive Species Council, exposing the weed risks of many proposed biofuels is to be released tomorrow, 3 October 2007, at the 'Greenhouse 2007' climate change conference in Sydney.

Most plants being promoted as biofuels in Australia are serious weeds that should not be grown, The Weedy Truth About Biofuels report has found.

The assessment examines the weedy risks posed by 18 proposed biofuel species being touted as climate change solutions.

In the report, the Invasive Species Council also recommends reforms to policy to reduce the weed risk of the emerging biofuels industry in Australia.

Thus far the weed risk of biofuels has been ignored by policy makers in Australia.
________________________________________________
Media Reports
We have achieved wide media coverage for this issue. Since releasing the Biofuels Report, Tim Low has been interviewed by numerous news agencies - these have been broadcast on Fran Kelly's Breakfast show on Radio National; and on 702 ABC Sydney; and there have been articles in the Sydney Morning Herald, Canberra Times, Weekly Times and the Adelaide Independent Weekly.

Tim has had emails from Belgium, Poland, Italy and Canada, either requesting copies of the report or commenting supportively on it. At the conference he was asked for copies by the state departments that deal with biofuels in NSW, Victoria, SA, WA and the NT, plus CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems, and later received an email from Biosecurity Queensland requesting the report. All of the state agencies and the CSIRO were interested in the weed issue, and some of them mentioned their own concerns, so I think we have also succeeded in raising this issue with the government agencies that need to know about it. NSW has asked for suggestions of safe biofuel crops to trial there.

________________________________________________
Media Release
Most plants being promoted as biofuels in Australia are serious weeds that should not be grown, a new assessment by the Invasive Species Council has found.

In a report to be released on 3rd October, at the 'Greenhouse 2007' climate change conference in Sydney, the Invasive Species Council has assessed the weedy risks posed by 18 proposed biofuel species being touted as climate change solutions.

"Australia should not try to solve one environmental problem by creating another," warned ISC spokesman and report author, Tim Low. "These plants have no proven value as biofuel crops but bad reputations as weeds."

Seven plants considered promising as biofuels are banned as noxious weeds in parts of Australia - jatropha, spartina, castor oil plant, Chinese apple, olive, willows, and poplars.

Two species - giant reed and spartina - appear on the World Conservation Union's 'List of 100 of the World's Worst Invasive Species'. Giant reed is now on trial as a biofuel crop in South Australia, despite the enormous weed problems it causes around the world. In California alone, many millions of dollars are spent each year destroying it.

Jatropha is widely promoted as a "miracle crop" but there is no technology for harvesting its seeds. It is closely related to bellyache bush, one of the worst weeds of farmland in northern Australia.

"The naïve enthusiasm shown for jatropha and other weedy biofuel plants recalls the enthusiasm shown for cane toads in a past age - and the outcome may be similar," Mr Low said.

"We should be very wary of "miracle crops" and over-hyped agricultural ventures, as past experience with aloe vera and deer farming has shown."

"The Invasive Species Council advises that any plant proposed as a biofuel should be assessed first for its environmental impact," Mr Low said.

"Disappointingly, Australian governments and biofuel experts have so far failed to acknowledge that the weed risk exists, an unacceptable situation."

________________________________________________