Everett, Wash.
Published: Sunday, August 17, 2008

GUEST COMMENTARY

Produce biofuels to renew a declining resource: soil

By Kevin Fullerton

 Most elected officials, and pretty much anyone else, can likely circle the answer to the following question: Which of these "renewable" energies are not derived from an inexhaustible resource? (a) wind power (b) solar power (c) biofuels

Obviously, the term "renewable fuels" is a misnomer -- the world's agricultural resources are finite. Yet state and national leaders have encouraged ethanol and biodiesel as if we can endlessly mine the planet's topsoil for fuel.

Recent reports from the International Food Policy Research Institute, the World Bank and Science magazine are sobering them up. Diverting land from food to biofuel crops is inflating food prices. And clearing forests to expand biofuel production is a dubious strategy because of climate change impacts.

It's fair to wonder: Is the promise of renewable fuels in fact the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American public? The answer is yes -- and no.

Yes, because biofuels derived from corn and soybeans consume resources that are limited and disappearing, and it is foolish to bank on them as a transportation fuel source.

No, because biofuel production can play a vital role rebuilding our soils and ensuring fertile farmland for the future. Sustainable biofuels are possible, and beneficial. But the industry's objectives must be changed.

We cannot produce renewable fuels from cropland that is not being renewed. And it is not -- neither here in Washington, across the United States, nor around the world. Half of America's best cropland is eroding 27 times faster than its rate of recovery. Iowa, home to some of the best topsoil in the world, has lost half of it in the past century. In Washington's dryland regions, roughly 50-75 percent of the original organic matter -- the material that makes soil fertile -- has disappeared. Agricultural soils would already be failing if not pumped with a constant stream of synthetic fertilizers.

We worry about peak oil -- whether an era of petroleum scarcity has already begun. But peak soil is already here. Production gains achieved through technology are not compensating for cropland lost to degradation and development.

The global population owes its survival to fertilizers rendered from fossil fuels. But this is a dead-end solution. The era of cheaply available natural gas -- the key element in fertilizer manufacture -- has ended. Fertilizer prices have quadrupled in the past two years, and even affluent farmers struggle to afford them. Our food supply hinges on a declining resource -- with 3 billion new mouths to feed by mid-century.

Peak soil is a trap so wide, enveloping billions of people in its clutch, that we can hardly perceive the walls closing in. The shockwave that biofuel production sent rippling through commodity markets is an early warning of the limits we're up against. How should we respond?

First we acknowledge that agriculture, not biofuel, is our great imperative. Then we redesign biofuel incentives to ensure the industry becomes a tool for improved agriculture, providing new resources that foster renewable farming systems. This is how we create a resilient food supply and healthier climate.

Farming becomes renewable when it returns as much organic material to the soil as it removes -- without depending on fossil fuels for nutrients. Before petroleum was discovered, animals helped perform this recycling function, returning fertilizer to the fields they worked. We're far from establishing this equilibrium while maintaining the agricultural capacity to feed the current population. But a crucial first step is re-establishing traditional recycling systems that capture the large proportion of nutrients now wasted. That's where biofuel production can step in.

As biofuel facilities render fuels from plants and manure, they produce streams of leftover biomass material such as seed meals, compost, and bio-char rich in nitrogen and organic matter. Soils need these nutrients to maintain fertility, resist plant-killing diseases, and sequester carbon. Biofuel "byproducts" are the missing link that could engender an organic farm products industry capable of competing with petrochemicals.

Unfortunately, state and national policies provide few incentives to commercialize these byproducts. Washington and other states passed renewable fuel standards to guarantee markets for biofuels, but never did the same for the soil products side of the industry.

As a consequence, we're failing to capture the true virtue of biofuel projects -- their capacity to evolve into a source of fuel for food. Now that we've learned what biofuels can't do -- allow guilt-free driving -- it's time to focus on what they can -- catalyze a soil-building industry that makes agriculture environmentally and economically sustainable. Washington state, with its strong tradition of conscientious, sophisticated farming, has every reason to lead the way.



Kevin Fullerton is policy and government relations liaison with the Institute for Washington's Future (www.forwashington.org).
© 2009The Daily Herald Co., Everett, WA