Biofuels and food

Biuofuels came under attack at a conference in Washington DC over the weekend, as poor nations blame the Western focus on ethanol production for rising food prices that are causing riots and political instability in some parts of the world.

“Many specialists in food policy consider government mandates for biofuels to be ill advised, agreeing that the diversion of crops like corn into fuel production has contributed to the higher prices. But other factors have played big roles, including droughts that have limited output and rapid global economic growth that has created higher demand for food,” says an article in the International Herald Tribune.

In fact, rising demand for meat in China and India is another factor playing a major role in rising food prices. Ethanol defenders highlight that this is being ignored by those pointing the finger at biofuels. One such comment was made by Iowa’s Republican Senator Charles E. Grassley.The statement is true, but, coming from an American, is reeks of hypocrisy since America is the biggest meat consumer in the world. Perhaps the senator should consider a way of decreasing meat production in his own territory (Americans eat one million animals per hour), which would free up quite a lot of grain to feed humans and avoid suffering for billions of animals.

The discussion highlights two important points: a) land-cropped biofuels are far from being the best alternative to fossil fuels and b)reducing consumption of energy is of paramount importance. Simply replacing ‘dirty’ energy with ‘cleaner’ alternatives will not do. The Western world needs to rediscover frugality. And drastically reduce meat consumption.

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About the author

Antonio Pasolini

London-based, Italo-Brazilian journalist and friend of the earth.

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2 Comments

  • “The Western world needs to rediscover frugality. And drastically reduce meat consumption.”

    So true! And on the meat consumption subject, lets not forget how many acres of farmland are taken up by cattle (along with the tons of grain taken up to feed slaughter house animals), farmland which could instead be used to grow food to feed the hungry people in the world with healthy, nutritious grains and veggies.

  • Algae is, without a doubt, the solution to using food stock for biofuel impacting global food prices and how to actually grow enough biomass per acre to make it worthwhile. Oh and by the way 2/3 of the weight of algae is made from carbon dioxide so it is exponentially closer to carbon neutral that anything else.