Ethics and biofuels
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Abstract
Where can we obtain energy most ethically? How much energy do we need to live an ethical and good life? The gaps between the rich and the poor with regards to access to and use of energy are critical ethical issues facing global society. The logic of biofuels is simple – namely use of the renewable energy of the sun in photosynthesis to produce plants that can be used as fuel to counter the rising prices of petroleum and oil that our global society depends upon. There has been a lot of rhetoric about biofuels, so let us consider the ethics of decisions made about them. There are a number of ethical principles that are applied to assist in decision making about the use of science and technology. These include beneficence, nonmaleficence, autonomy and justice. The foundation of research into biofuel technology is beneficence – to make the world a better place. Beneficence is the foundation of most scientific research, although each application can benefit (or harm) different groups within society. If we can reduce the predicted climate change associated with pollution from the use of fossil fuels, we will benefit a number of species that would have otherwise gone extinct. The principle of non-maleficence is to avoid harm. It is the reason why we need to closely examine any pollution produced as a result of biofuel use, and compare it to alternatives. Within biofuel options there is variation about the types of negative impacts, which include land and water use, and social impact. Some biofuel options, such as biogas, can reduce the effluent pollution stemming from agriculture, and utilize outputs of agriculture once considered as waste. These would be an example of reduction of harm being caused by alternatives, and seem to be very favorable for our ana lysis. The positive and negative effects of biofuels depend not only on which feedstock is used, but also on how that feedstock is produced, how it affects landuse change and to what extent its production is scaled up. Phalan argued that control of land-use change associated with biofuel production ‘resembles traffic control in an anarchic state: that is, there are traffic laws but they are rarely observed’ [1]. What sort of controls work and what should the ethical basis for these be? Ethics is more than simply examining the pluses and minuses of an action, but an important issue is the extent of the circle within which the moral community lies. Who is a moral agent? A moral agent possesses Ethics and biofuels Editorial