Why is Biofuels the only industry to struggle with ILUC?

OK, so maybe it wasn't such a good idea to grow agricultural crops in order to be able to fuel my car. I realise that using agricultural land to grow biofuel does compete with other crops that feed man and beast. Let's call it ILUC (indirect land use change) - and make it very complicated.

What I don't understand is why biofuel crops (oilseed, oil palm, sugarcane and corn/wheat) are the only crops that are unwanted. Cotton you say is OK, because of course we need clothes, but hey we can wear clothes made from woodfibres/viscose or made from crude oil we pump out of the ground aka nylon. No need to wear these agriculturally grown fibres? When we wash our hands or hair in the bath, did anyone ever cry ILUC? As well as for biodiesel the oil crops are also the only feedstock for production of a whole range of soaps, shampoos and technical products that we like to use. We could also use products derived from mineral oil, but we prefer the natural products.

I think it is amazing how the green troops have managed to set the agenda selectively. The reality is that no matter what we do when we try to manage nature, we will get negative side effects.

Let's take a look at the next big thing. Everybody agrees that it would be just wonderful if we could "just" make biofuel from cellulosis and agricultural waste. Has anybody tried to calculate how much wood waste would be necessary to "feed the beast"? Wikipedia suggests that close to 20% of US land (similar to the area used to grow crops) would be needed to cover US transportation fuels from ethanol from switchgrass - quite significant numbers - that will definitely have a significant ILUC effect.
What will happen to the ecosystem and the nutrient content of the soil if much more of the biomass is removed from the land in order to be processed/turned into biofuel? Well - the soil is going to be deprived of  organic material, which constitutes an important part of the slow release system for nutrients and water of the  soil - also known as humus. Depriving the soil of the organic material will be slowly spoiling the carrying capacity of the soil.
Using wood and forest by-products has similar problems. Enormous quantities are needed, there will be competition with other uses of forest products, from firewood, over cellulosis to fibreboards and construction wood. And the forest is potential agricultural land and vise versa - so also an ILUC effect here. I guess our politicians are in for a tough job to find the "good" solution to our energy and transport fuel problems. Unfortunately they are not going to get any help from the green NGOs.

Update: A German view on the same issue comes to largely the same conclusion.

The New Reality

Sometimes when you think you have it all figured out you get surprised. The way that the market behaves in the by-product oil industry continues to come up with new surprises. Currently close to record level Brent oil prices as well as PFAD prices makes it difficult for some to understand why prices of low quality bio oils have fallen 25-30% since the autumn.

In my optics there are two main reason for this unusual situation:

1. The relatively short and mild winter in Europe in 2011-12 resulted in much lower consumption of bio oil for heating than usual. Many contracted volumes were not consumed and are still in stock. With full stocks, demand is currently low and prices low as well.

2. The latest dioxine scandal in animal feed oils in early 2011 (the Harles and Jentzsch scandal) caused a lot of animal feed oil buyers to tighten their requirements for supplier documentation and analyses. A new EU feed regulation will step into force in August 2012 and will make it more expensive and in many cases very difficult to use lower quality oils for animal feed. This has already lead to more of this oil being used to technical applications.

Market changes and changes in legislation have changed the dynamics in the market forcing the oils to flow in new directions. With very high price levels of PFAD companies in the biodiesel and oleochemical industry that can take in the acid oils are benefiting from this. Ability to take high FFA material is all the rage in the biodiesel industry these days.

Combined with the new requirements for certification according to the Renewable Energy Directive (RED) changes are plenty and the need for people and companies that are competent in understanding and navigating in the constantly changing landscape is increasing.