Food vs. Fuel

A combination of bad weather and the rising use of ethanol as fuel, combined with higher transportation costs and other economic factors, have caused the costs of corn to skyrocket. Corn ethanol programs must be stopped now, and the competition between food and fuel must be ended.

Not all biofuels are created equal, as the chart above illustrates (click the image to see full size). It’s one of the best depictions I’ve seen of how each biofuel feedstock has completely different impacts on overall greenhouse gas emissions, water and pesticide use, and the energy required to produce the fuel.

A discussion of the New York Times article about the world-wide food vs. fuel crisis that is haunting Western politicians and their favorite biofuels policies. Alternatives to biofuels are discussed, and support is given to biodiesel made from waste (not food products), as long as liquid fuels are needed.

Despite intense debate surrounding the growing global food crises, the European Union today defended expanding the use of biofuels in all 27 member countries. Part of the EU’s climate change package, the current proposal sets a target of meeting 10% of transportation fuel with biofuels by 2020.

NPR’s Morning Addition briefly interviewed World Bank President Robert Zoellick last Friday concerning world food prices. Zoellick called it a “perfect storm of things coming together…” and listed 7 different issues contributing to the increasing cost of food, which led to rioting in Haiti and Egypt last week, along with a general strike in Burkina Faso.