Biofuels

Despite their espousal of free market principles, both the US and the European Union have led other developed countries in providing state incentives for production of biofuels. Ambitious mandated targets are bolstered by global subsidies that totalled $20 billion in 2009, more than double the amount of foreign aid available for agriculture in developing countries.

Corn, the raw material used to produce ethanol © Network for New Energy Choices

The lure of biofuels for these governments is lower dependence on fossil fuels, together with reduction in carbon dioxide emissions. Ethanol and biodiesel are manufactured from plant crops and are predominantly used as petrol additives. However, the net saving in carbon dioxide emissions from maize-based ethanol has been exposed as less than 20%.

For 2011, 40% of the US corn (maize) crop is earmarked for ethanol. This represents 15% of projected world maize production and is enough to feed over 400 million people for a year.

European targets for biofuels require a land area twice the size of Belgium and are therefore pursued by acquiring rights to agricultural land in developing countries, often those struggling with national food insecurity.

The world faces a future in which rich countries may seek national energy security through “food-for-fuel”, regardless of the state of global food security. Continued upward pressure on prices and price volatility appears inevitable.


Trade-offs between food and biofuels: a summary of the basic biofuels dilemma from Professor Rosaland Naylor, Department of Environmental Earth System Sciences, Stanford University.