Biofuels V Food : The Great Global Challenge?

There is talk of the inflationary effect of rising food prices in some developed countries notably the US,UK and New Zealand , driven by the diversion of corn products into alternative fuels for our cars. In the US, for example ,food costs have risen by 7% ,in the first quarter of this year.However,the bottom-line is we need low emission cars.

For corn you can read: soya bean,rapeseed,flaxseed , sugar cane and other renewable crops that can be used for producing the alternative fuels to oil products, like petrol and diesel. All these crops need to grow somewhere. Sometimes, but not always, crops for renewable energy can be grown in areas ,or on land ,not previously used extensively for agricultural purposes. However, when the underutilised capacity has gone ,this is when the serious decisions have to be made. Biofuels or food? Corn for food consumption or for the manufacture of alternative fuels.This is economics on the front line. Supply and demand will rule the day.


Deforestation (in Brazil), or the switch from cereals to ethanol production in the US , will probably continue apace as vast areas are cultivated to meet the demands for ethanol production. I shall be looking in more detail into the Biofuels v Food Challenge in future as part of the whole complex debate about the future of propulsion for cars. In the meantime I have found some relevant useful information at WIMS (see its blog post for 21st May)

If we need low emission cars, we must continue to look at all the options for powering them.
This may help to encourage the commercial development of (say) electric or hydrogen cars.
We must also not overlook the major immediate improvements that can (and are being) made to the performance and emission reduction of petrol and diesel driven cars.

In my next post we pick-up on a government initiative to encourage us to drive 'cleaner'.