Environmental campaigners have called for a change in policy on biofuels after a report that they have caused a 75 per cent increase in food prices.
An unpublished World Bank study claimed the EU and US drive towards biofuels was having a massive impact on both food supply and prices.
The US Government had claimed that biofuels - mainly ethanol produced from crops such as corn, palm and soya - was responsible for only a three per cent rise in food prices.
President Bush had linked higher food prices to a bigger demand by wealthier consumers in China and India.
But the World Bank report, drawn up by an internationally-respected economist, states unequivocally that income growth in developing countries was not a major factor in price rises and that a shortage of grain caused by droughts had had only a marginal impact.
"Without the increase in biofuels, global wheat and maize stocks would not have declined appreciably and price increases due to other factors would have been moderate," the report states.
"The basket of food prices examined in the study rose by 140% between 2002 and this February. The report estimates that higher energy and fertiliser prices accounted for an increase of only 15%, while biofuels have been responsible for a 75% jump over that period."
The report was drawn up in April but has remained unpublished prompting speculation that it had not been released to save President Bush from embarrassment.
Biofuels have been seen as an environmentally less-damaging alternative to petrol and diesel which would help combat global CO2 emissions and help reduce dependence on oil.
But there has been growing criticism that the growing of crops for biofuels causes more harm than good because of the amount of land and energy needed to grow them in sufficient quantities.
Conservationists say the growing demand has led to swatches of vitally important rainforests being cleared for crops. And the switch by farmers from growing food crops to the more lucrative biofuel crops had led to food shortages and higher prices.
According to the World Bank rising food prices have pushed 100m people worldwide below the poverty line and have sparked riots from Bangladesh to Egypt. Government ministers in the UK have described higher food and fuel prices as "the first real economic crisis of globalisation".
The EU has a target of ensuring 10% of petrol and diesel comes from renewable sources by 2020 and since April, all petrol and diesel in Britain has had to include 2.5% from biofuels. But because of concerns about the sustainability of biofuel crops the target is now under review.
On Monday, MEPs will vote in the EU Parliament's Environment Committee on proposed amendments to the Renewable Energy Directive, including an amendment to scrap the 10 per cent target.
In the UK the Government commissioned a review of the impact of biofuels on land and food policy led by Professor Ed Gallagher which is likely to be published shortly. It is thought to conclude that biofuels are driving global food prices up and are causing food shortages and global hunger.
The high-profile international issue is due to be discussed by the powerful G8 group of industrialised countries when they meet in Japan next week.
the enron loophole, speculation, deregulated wall street "commodity hoarding" and the falling dollar are causing the oil and food shortages..."supply and demand" my ass
by
Susan Nelsen (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 268 comments)
on Sunday, July 6, 2008 at 12:26:16 PM
you would be perfectly happy to let hundreds of millions of the world's poorest people starve to death and accelerate global deforestation so you can feel a little better about driving your car? How generous of you.
by
Watching (0 articles, 1 quicklinks, 3 diaries, 313 comments)
on Sunday, July 6, 2008 at 4:00:13 PM
I understand that corn can better feed people than our desire for mobility, but I have yet to hear anything about the excessive use of corn for sweetener, or for that matter to feed animals that don't eat it naturally. It strikes me that the food production system is deeply flawed and biofuels are simply the latest shift and an easy target (especially with big business interests in the mix). I would love to hear more about these other issues as well. I would like to believe that being vegetarian, eschewing high fructose corn syrup AND driving a vehicle using biofuels would all be good things to do for the planet AND its inhabitants. Logic dictates that it would be, so can't the system be fixed to make it so?
by
Ian Lynch (13 articles, 0 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 9 comments)
on Sunday, July 6, 2008 at 4:08:26 PM
You are correct to question the "sacred cow" of using corn to feed animals. The "food vs. fuel" frame is a false one, probably foisted on us by the oil companies to eliminate their competition.
Yes, obviously we need to feed the starving as our first priority, but maybe instead of giving up increasing independence from foreign oil (biofuels), we could consider giving up heart disease and obesity first (grain-fattened beef and HFCS high-fructose corn syrup, aka "burgers and cokes").
Animal feed uses twice as much corn as ethanol production.
Details: click here it is possible to use corn for both biofuel and animal feed by feeding the "distiller's grain" (a by-product of ethanol production) to the cattle-- it's actually better for their digestion than unprocessed corn, leading to healthier animals and reduced use of antibiotics in feedlots. But that's only if we want to feed the poor without giving up our unhealthy eating habits.
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Marcus B (1 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 26 comments)
on Sunday, July 6, 2008 at 5:30:34 PM
While it is clear that some of the biofuels activity in recent years is mis-directed, it would be a shame to abandon it altogether.
Producing alcohol from corn to use as a fuel is now known to be a waste of energy, literally. More energy goes into producing the alcohol than can be generated by then burning the alcohol. It is a waste.
On the other hand, we really must make better use of solar energy and one very promising way to do that is to grow crops to be used as fuel. Perhaps corn is just not the right crop for this purpose or perhaps the way we grow corn is particularly unsuitable. Ideally, we should find crops to use for fuel that grow on marginal land that is not suited for growing food. Come to think of it, forests grow wood that our ancestors cut down for fuel - maybe we could do this kind of thing again. Where can I buy sawgrass pellets for my stove?
Let me end with a question that is only slightly related. A few years ago, a criticism of NAFTA that circulated in progressive circles was that Mexican- (and maybe other latin-) farmers had been driven from farming by the flood of U.S. corn at low, low prices. Can anyone tell me whether corn farming has revived in Mexico now that world corn prices have gone out of sight?
by
PrMaine (10 articles, 8 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 335 comments)
on Sunday, July 6, 2008 at 4:48:20 PM
The biofuels themselves are not raising any prices. The stupidity of our government in pushing the use of corn and the greed of corporate farms in switching over to corn production for biofuels is affecting food prices quite dynamically. If our government had some "intelligence" it would promote the use of grasses grown on non-agricultural(or at least those not in use for food crops) lands as well as any other source for cellulose producing non-food or waste crops for producing biofuels. These "other" crops and waste produce much more biofuels than corn and do not affect our food sources. The only problem these "other" sources have is time to ramp up to economical quantities which if the government backed it would not take very long. As far as the "oil" companies and the military industrial complex companies are concerned their effect on prices is still very devastating and will continue to be as long as they have Bush and Congress in their pockets. If Congress had a brain they would withhold all the monetary help they have been giving these corporate leeches until they begin producing biofuels made from the non-food items I have listed. That would make the biofuels highly feasible very quickly. After that our government should start weaning any corporate entity from subsidies completely.
by
Hayesml47 (4 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 471 comments)
on Sunday, July 6, 2008 at 5:21:08 PM
Yes, Eventually It'll Be Switchgrass for Bio-Fuels
Thank you for pointing that out!
We do need to grow the biofuels market or at least keep it strong so that when the switchgrass digesters are scaled up, there will be a ready market for the new process.
Obviously, feeding the poor comes first, but we can transition to dual use (bio-fuels AND animal feed from the same corn) and improve the health of Americans diets to save enough for legitimate food uses.
Just as big a part of the corn problem for ethanol is that corporate farms are growing corn in place of wheat and other crops that do not make as much money, or at least did not use to. As much as I hate to use our disfunctional government something needs to be done to balance the amount of crop types to prevent shortages within the mix of our grown foods. A very major part of our problems comes from overpopulation(here and worldwide) and letting random choice by farmers(particularly the corporate ones) determine what gets grown and for what purposes just simply will not work. This needs to be monitored on a worldwide basis so the logical controller would be the UN. Capitalism can be a great driving force for prosperity but it too needs to be controlled.
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Hayesml47 (4 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 471 comments)
on Sunday, July 6, 2008 at 9:51:02 PM
Many for the bio-fuel movement have argued that it's too simplistic to say that using corn for this other purpose will compete will drive up food prices. Well, it seems they're very quickly being proven wrong. I do agree it's not just a this-or-that relationship, but as many have already brought up here, corn isn't just any crop in our society. It's literally the most used monocrop of our whole corporatocracy, skyrocketing over wheat in just the last decade and a half. Corn syrup, especially the high-fructose kind, is in almost everything and corn meal is snuck into most snacks, or in the case of Cheetos and puffs like that, can be said to be the base of the whole product and the only semi-nutritional ingredient. If it wasn't so pervasive already, or the corporate interests weren't so reluctant to find substitutes for it, ethonol might very well be a good solution, but only a short-term one anyway. It also does encourage continued personal vehicle use and delays the systematic changes we desperately need in travel necessity in our lives and bettering the convenience and availability of public transportation.
by
Gabe Shames (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 11 comments)
on Sunday, July 6, 2008 at 5:51:11 PM
the focus just a little. If every available acre in the U.S. were converted to corn production and all that corn were used for ethanol, the outcome would produce approximately 14% of the fuel needed in for U.S. for auto fuel alone!
Secondly, if you convert a crop that was formerly a food crop to a fuel crop, the third graders could deduce that a shortage would occur in the former use i.e. food.
Third and last, if all elements of the production of ethanol are given value, the process is energy negative. It takes more input than we gain in output (Dr. David Pimentel et al, Cornell University).
Those old boys down in Tennessee have known how to make corn burn with a blue flame for a long time, they call it White Lightening, but it's sold by the mason jar, not by the gallon at gas pumps.
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Mike Folkerth (120 articles, 0 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 566 comments)
on Monday, July 7, 2008 at 8:04:05 AM
Sapphire energy now makes GAS and jet fuel from algae
An acre of tanks growing algae to convert to 91 octane gasoline can make many, many times the gallons of fuel per acre than corn to ethanol, and without the 30% drop in mpg that E-85 causes, and wont't wear out your engine as fast as ethanol products. Check it out at www.sapphireenergy.com/ , where they have already flown a plane across the atlantic on their jet fuel and created 91 octane gasoline.
by
wxman2001 (1 articles, 0 quicklinks, 13 diaries, 114 comments)
on Monday, July 7, 2008 at 10:13:16 AM
While the product may work, please remember that we use 20,000,000 barrels of oil per day in the U.S. alone. The world uses 87,000,000 barrels.
Like used french fry oil in diesels, once one trucker starts burning it, what do the rest of us use?
The situation is dire to be sure and there is no replacement on this planet for gas and oil that will head off the coming collision. Certainly not ethanol or algae.
by
Mike Folkerth (120 articles, 0 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 566 comments)
on Monday, July 7, 2008 at 10:42:40 AM
The answer(s) to our fuel dilema are going to be many and varied. Mass transit for humans and freight will be needed and must be based on electric power which is regenerable. I see the mag-lev systems as being more efficient and dependable. The people movers need to be overhead(monorail) and the freight needs to be underground or at least in a deep trough. This is for safety and ease of right of ways. Surface trucks will be required only to service the mag-lev terminals for short range delivery intown and to smaller towns. With this kind of system the use of solar, wind, nuke, and any other electric generating "plants" will be possible and greatly reduce our oil dependance. If this is used then the growing of grasses and using other byproducts will be much closer to satisfying our fuel needs until battery technology advances enough to replace the diesels and hybrids we are starting to develop now. This will not be easy but then there are no more easy answers for anything anymore!
by
Hayesml47 (4 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 471 comments)
on Monday, July 7, 2008 at 12:25:47 PM
Hemp is the only source of biomass on the planet capable of meeting our demands in an ecologically friendly way. It grows without most fertilizers, pesticides, or herbicides to foul the soil and water, in climates and conditions other crops will not grow. In fact anything made of oil, coal, timber, or cotton can be made ecologically friendly with hemp! All paper, plastics, paints, varnishes, fuels, lubricants, textiles, plywood, structural components, insulations, many cosmetics, health foods, and medicines, over 25,000 known products can be made with it! Henry Ford built and fueled a car primarily with it, the cellulose plastic panels ten times stronger than steel. Synthetic plastics were developed using cellulose technology. Neither Ford nor Diesel intended to run their engines with petroleum. The United States is now the only major nation not growing it, to the Canadians delight! China now grows 40% of the worlds crop. Russia is right up there too! Canvas is Dutch for cannabis. For thousands of years all ships sails, rope, clothing, and fine paintings were of hemp fibers, which are the longest and strongest in nature. Betsy Ross' flag is made of hemp, our Constitution was originally on Hemp paper. It was legal to pay taxes with it in early America, you could be jailed for not growing it! The War of 1812 was fought over it. The early Pioneer's wagons were covered with it. It was vital to the making of our Nation! Read about it!!!
Hemp is at the very minimum four times more efficient than corn, kenaf, or sugar cane for ethanol production, and the same holds true versus tree's for paper pulp. Farming just six to eight percent of our land in hemp could satisfy our current demand for oil.
The hemp seed is also the single most nutritious thing you can eat and reintroduced to our diets can alleviate many of the diseases sweeping our Nation. THC has also been found to destroy tumors, promote thr growth of brain and nerve cells, and both prevent and cure Alzheimers. The list of diseases THC, hemp seed, and cannabinoids can cure or treat grows every day, unfortunately our FDA only continues to demonize it with the same lies and propaganda they have spread for over 70 years, keeping the Truth regarding the single most useful plant on the planet hidden from view. However, their lies are catching up to them and Mother Nature is going to win every time.
Hemp industrialization will create millions of Earth friendly jobs from the farm to the laboratory, begin a redistribution of wealth, and promote social harmony! It's time we removed the flaming sword and behold the Mystical Tree of Life in the midst of the Eternal Sea in the Shining Paradise of God.
Kaneh bosm!!!
by
Garry (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 25 comments)
on Monday, July 7, 2008 at 12:38:56 PM
Senator Grassley from Iowa says big oil is paying for this smear campaing even though the Grocers Association is touting these lies. Hearings in Congress concluded that only about 1.3% in rise in food costs were caused by corn ethanol. Most of the rise was caused by hight fuel transport costs. There were very poor crops in 2007 due to drought and other weather related causes. Please stop the smear campaign, as the amount added to our diesel and gas are keeping down gas prices between 50-60 cents per gallon.
by
Linda Bemis (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 3 comments)
on Monday, July 7, 2008 at 7:04:49 PM
We have one plant that could be used for bio-fuel that needs no fertilizer. Hemp is the only plant known that fertilizes the land as it matures and it is the only food plant known from which you CAN'T make a drug—what about our fruit, every bite can make a drug. Corn, "corn likker" and on and on. Doyou want to live on lettuce and spinach! Moreover, hemp makes more fiber per acre than any other available substance does. Hearst and Dupont had just concocted a drug that turned the Hearst forests into paper. Because Hemp needs only water, which in the process, becomes ozone, and it takes 3 months rather than 40 years to grow, Hearst's forests couldn't compete so they made it illegal. Isn't it time to legalize hemp and reverse global warming in three months. Also don't we need a new product which will create thousands of new jobs. emilyhorswill blogspot.com
by
emily horswill (6 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 66 comments)
on Tuesday, July 8, 2008 at 12:35:07 AM
micro solutions to a macro problem. Please remember If every available acre in the U.S. were converted to corn production and all that corn were used for ethanol, the outcome would produce approximately 14% of the fuel needed in for U.S. for auto fuel alone! No food, no animals just fuel.
It's not a matter of what you plant, we are already against the maximum production our crop lands. Every river in the West is being depelted in an effor to grow more crops, we simply can't grow fuel!
We are paying the extra money for the subsidized fuel at the grocery store for goodness sakes. When you take a product that was originally being consumed and put the use to fuel, you have shortage in the original sector, which was food.
As Professor David Pimentel of Cornell University says, "Ethanol is nothing more than the subsidized burning of food."
How about we control our population? We are overgrazing the ranch.
by
Mike Folkerth (120 articles, 0 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 566 comments)
on Tuesday, July 8, 2008 at 11:19:25 AM
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