Biofuel could send food into orbit

Jan Ziegler, who prepared a special report for the United Nations, has described the diversion of land from food to create biofuels as nothing less than "a crime against humanity".

On 23 January the European Commission spelt out how it was going to meet its controversial target of providing 10% of Europe’s transport fuel from biofuels by 2020. It drew up sustainability criteria, intended to guarantee that biofuels are not undermining goals on biodiversity or climate change. But the criteria did not convince green groups. "Any claims that biofuels are sustainable will be a sour joke for the world’s poor who will be forced to pay more for their food," said Adrian Bebb, an agrofuels campaigner at Friends of the Earth.

After years of cheap food, commodity prices have hit record highs. But can this be blamed on biofuels? Dominque Dejonckheere, a senior policy adviser at Copa-Cogeca, the European farmers’ federation, says that the impact of biofuels on food prices will be "very limited", because the new member states "have huge potential" for growth. She says that agriculture has been making productivity gains of between 1-2% per year and the prospect of big efficiency gains in new member states, such as Romania and Bulgaria, mean there is "huge potential" for growth in food production, so keeping prices down. Copa-Cogeca also believes that biofuels can be good news for the world’s poor, by boosting farming and the fortunes of the rural poor.

The results of cost-benefit analyses are mixed. But the Commission is sticking to its target, talking up the future prospects of the next generation of biofuels from biomass, which are likely to be more eco-friendly.

Jan Ziegler, who prepared a special report for the United Nations, has described the diversion of land from food to create biofuels as nothing less than "a crime against humanity".