Downloads

New Books Catalogue Autumn/Winter 2012New Books Catalogue Spring/Summer 2012

Plu Social

Blog Twitter Facebook

Newsletters

Signup now

Book of the Week

Military Inc.
Pakistan's Military in the spotlight
Competitions Jobs

Ecology

Jacket image for Agrofuels
Click to enlarge image
This book presents the issue of agrofuels within the global ...

(Samir Amin, Director of the Third World )

 

This book is a unique and important contribution to the ...

(Professor Olivier De Schutter, UN Specia)

 

That solutions can be the causes of problems is well ...

(Susan George, Honorary President of ATTA)

 

Agrofuels
Big Profits, Ruined Lives and Ecological Destruction

Product Description

Since they were heralded as a key weapon in the fight against climate change, agrofuels have been criticised heavily for doing more harm than good due to deforestation and stealing agricultural land essential to farmers in the developing world. This book asks whether there is any place for agrofuels in a low-carbon future.

François Houtart argues that the green potential of agrofuels has been wasted by businesses that put profits above environmental protection. This has led to the absurd situation where an energy source that should be sustainable actually increases human and ecological damage, simply due to the profit-maximising decisions of capitalists rather than a flaw in the concept of agrofuels.

Students of development studies and environmental economics will find that this book offers an interesting new perspective on the future of energy.

About The Author

François Houtart is Professor Emeritus of Sociology at the Université Catholique de Louvain. He was chief editor of the journal Social Compass from 1960 to 1999, and the editor of Alternatives Sud from 1994 - 2007. His previous books include The Globalisation of Resistance (with Samir Amin, 2002) and The Peasant as Actor (1982). He was the joint winner of the UNESCO Madanjeet Singh Prize 2009 for the promotion of tolerance and non-violence.

Click to browse contents

Prices