Australian Medical Association Backs Mandatory Biofuels Use

28 July 2005

The president of the Australian Medical Association (AMA), Dr Mukesh Haikerwal, wrote Australian Government’s Biofuels Taskforce to detail the AMA’s support for the mandatory use of ethanol and biodiesel in the interests of protecting and improving human health.

Dr Haikerwal said the AMA wants to see the biofuels debate in Australia shift from economic issues to human health issues.

The AMA is a strong advocate on initiatives related to environmental impacts on human health such as global warming.

We are equally passionate about the impact of vehicle emissions on human health and we would encourage governments to pursue responsible measures to reduce emissions.

In our opinion, there is incontrovertible evidence that the addition of ethanol to petrol and biodiesel to diesel will reduce the deaths and ill-health associated with the emissions produced by burning those fuels.

—Dr Haikerwal

The AMA believes that the following interventions would reduce the negative health impacts:

• Introduction of mandatory biofuel blends (gasoline with 10% ethanol and diesel with 20% biodiesel)

• Reduction of highly toxic aromatics such as benzene in gasoline

• Replacement of gasoline/diesel vehicles with those that use liquid petroleum gas (LPG) or compressed natural gas (CNG).

• Installation of in-tunnel filters and gas-detoxification systems in vehicular tunnels in heavily populated cities.