 Reading recent headlines in the Times of Malta gives most families the shivers. The doubling of the surcharge kindles memories of historians who recount the riots for doubling of bread prices in the Sette Gugnio events that sparkled unrest and some blood was shed as well.
Certainly one need not exaggerate the effect of the hike on food and energy costs arising over the next three months and the unremitting calls by unions in the 2008 budget for equivalent wage increases. Dr Gatt desired nerves of steel when he announced the surcharge should rise from the current 50 per cent to 115 per cent. To sweeten the pill, he remarked that without hedging, the surcharge would have been 160 per cent (what a astonishing trick this hedging does to prices).
One still hopes against hope that the government will announce to mitigate the full deluge of the 115 per cent surcharge or take a slice of it through some subsidy. The minister did not want to burden consumers more than necessary. If our energy utility had inefficiencies they should be carried by the corporation and not by consumers. But this is spewed logic since Enemalta is not privatised and can still be held accountable to report its internal management practices as governed by politically appointed members of its board.
Cynics may reply with tongue in cheek that if the Dar Malta in Brussels is sold now we could raise enough to seek the extra я37 million. Of course this will be selling the family‘s silver.
Another pre-election promise was the setting up of a wind farm in offshore waters that would when in place cut down 20 per cent of our energy demand presently derived from burning of fossil fuels. Observers were now suspecting that the project had been all but abandoned. The feeling on the streets is that driving huge oil guzzlers will soon be a relic (or a pastime for the rich) of the past. Let us welcome ‘Cinquecento’s’ and smaller oil burners and quickly fix our lanes for more bicycles and smaller scooters. The penny has dropped that the high cost of oil charged by the Sheiks in the Gulf and the North African producers is set to fatten their petrodollars hoards in the banks of Switzerland while ironically some of the oil rich countries’ populace die of hunger and deprivation arising of unbridled corruption and sleaze. The rest of us suffer in denial of our rights as there is no equilibrium in this charade of winners and losers. It had now become clear that the high cost of oil was not a temporary situation, so the country had to adapt to it. Is there a solution in sight? It is a relief that the European Union has set a target that 5.75 per cent of transport fuels should come from biological sources by 2010. To meet the 5.75 per cent EU target would require, according to one study, a quarter of the EU’s arable land.
 That demand on arable land cannot be met, so the burden is likely to be shifted onto developing countries where land is abundant and farmers welcome any assistance to grow new crops and improve on their standard of living.
For example, Brazil leads the world in bio-fuel production and use, making about 16 billion litres per year of ethanol from its sugarcane industry. Crossing over to the Atlantic we notice that Americans are been cautioned to cut their petrol use by 20 per cent over a decade, mostly through a use of home grown fuels, such as ethanol. So the writing on the wall is pointing to reducing our carbon footprint and one palatable way is the greater use of bio-fuels. In order to stop climate change, we need a global shift away from the burning of fossil fuels.
So what is the latest technology which is hitting the headlines regarding more efficient production of ethanol? First of all let us give some background how bio-fuels are extracted from processing of from crops, like corn, soya, cassava, sugarcane and rapeseed. In Thailand the government is subsidizing the cost to farmers of vast tracts of waste land to be converted to produce oil palm. But is the switch over to large-scale production of such crops having an indirect effect on raising global food prices? The answer is no. Prices are only rising due to speculation on the food markets but not directly as a result of bio-fuels. Studies show that bio- fuels produce up to 60 per cent less carbon dioxide than fossil fuels.
Bio-fuels are also making the headlines through bad publicity because land previously used for food crops are being turned over to bio-fuels.
It’s true that over the past year global food prices have increased by 43 per cent - but it is not because bio-fuels are taking what would have normally ended up on our plates. Speculation on international markets is behind much of the increase in food prices.
Certainly plantation on a massive scale of cassava, oil palm and blade grass should not directly affect prices of food on the table.
At this momentous stage, Malta welcomes the arrival of a global technology company called Whitefox.
Whitefox Technologies Limited specialises in creating breakthrough Technologies (products and processes) designed to revolutionise industry. The aim of the founders was to establish a company to simultaneously and continuously identify new technology needs, develop suitable technologies and products and market these quickly and efficiently. Whitefox was organised to develop membrane-based processes and products for use in the production of alternative fuel such as bio-fuels and special chemicals.
 Its acquired knowledge is now being applied in the development of technologies for other applications. Whitefox focuses on disruptive innovation, creating breakthroughs in regard to energy derived from renewable resources.
It is an incubator for new approaches, concepts, processes and equipment.
According to Whitefox, a company focused on developing technologies for cleaner energy production, the ethanol industry needs disruption if it is going to thrive. Dr Stephan Blum, Chief Operating Officer of Whitefox Technologies Limited, says: “Real change requires more than disruptive innovation. Membrane dehydration, for example, has been around for three decades and while the technology promises major improvements in production, we’ve seen some really alarming failures due to the application of this technology.
“Over the past six years, Whitefox has learned that a fully integrated relationship -- involving all parties Р must exist. As membrane technology provider and overall systems integrator, Whitefox has been able to remove the disconnect risk and provide ethanol producers with something previously unheard of in this industryСa production guarantee, not only for the quality produced, but for the quantity as well.” Whitefox has been retrofitting plants in Europe for over five years and has recently begun retrofits in the USA. Two of the US plants now being retrofitted will together produce 220 million US gallons of fuel ethanol on an annual basis. Two new plants will jointly supply the US market with 300 million gallons per year.
The world also had moral and practical obligations to reduce emissions, but alternative sources such as the use of bio-fuels would mean lower costs and zero emissions. Granted that technology is expensive, but we should endeavour to attract specialized companies to our shores to set up base here a nd market their solutions to Europe . To conclude , the bio-fuels issue affects the whole debate around climate change - raising the question of who makes the right decisions around what energy technology each country rightly invests in. A new ethanol dehydration concept from Whitefox Technologies is bound to result in major improvements for the ethanol production industry and help solve the tussle against climate change and mitigate the explosion in fossil fuel prices. Let us hope that this will be a partial solution to our hard hit families who look forward to welcome companies like Whitefox and other technology rich innovators.
George Mangion
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