Experts wary of energy-crop drive

       The government needs to have a clear management plan for distinguishing cultivation areas between energy and food crops to prevent possible adverse impacts on food security and the overall food industry in which Thailand is currently a key producer, say industry executives.
       "The idea to develop the region as an export hub for biofuels and alternative fuels is viable, given plenty of raw materials for producing biofuels, but what the food industry is concerned is that this may lead to head-on competition in the future between land for growing energy crops and for food," said Paiboon Ponsuwanna, chairman of the food industry club of the Federation of Thai Industries.
       "A wide-ranging debate is a must to determine what types of crops we are going to invest in and where and how many plantation areas we need to grow energy crops, otherwise it would severely hit the raw material supply to the Thai food industry."
       Apichart Jongskul, secretary-general of the Office of Agricultural Economics (OAE), said the region had high capacity to produce alternative energy given its diversity of energy crops, but production for export would definitely bring about problems later.
       The plan would definitely affect food crops and regional food security, he added.
       "Producing biodiesel locally to replace imported oil is completely unlikely," Mr Apichart said."What is possible is that the we should rather focus on improving national energy security by reducing the dependence on imported oil.
       "The government should also come up with a clear commitment on how far we can go to produce alternative fuels to substitute for imported oil. Becoming a hub [for alternative fuel] is sort of a dream."
       Pornsil Patchrintanakul, deputy secretary-general of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, agreed that placing too much emphasis on crops as fuel could be dangerous.
       Among 10 Asean members, he said,only Brunei and Indonesia currently can produce enough energy for themselves and for export. Other Asean members including Thailand are net importers of fuel oil and natural gas and have yet to cut fuel oil consumption substantially in their own countries.
       Any plans to produce energy for export are unlikely to work and what the region should focus on is alternative energy to substitute for imported energy, he said.
       "I am wondering why the government
       does not promote a plan to cut oil imports and shift instead to using earth energy or fuel from heaven such as wind, waves and sunlight in place of 'fuel from hell' such as coal, oil and natural gas,as the fuel from heaven generates no pollution and reduces global warming," said
       Mr Pornsil."More importantly, this would also create benefits from carbon credits if it was properly developed."He said Asean members should cooperate to produce alternative energy for the best benefit of the region and to cut energy costs.
       "Should the region opt for producing biofuels or alternative fuels for export,we have to compete not only with natural gas but also the biggest alternative energy producing countries such as Brazil," he added.
       "We have to think twice about whether it's worth the investment, as the initiative will undeniably eat into arable land for food crops."