Agriculture must supply all people with enough food to prevent widespread hunger and starvation. However, food security is aggravating day by day, resulting in more number of undernourished/malnourished persons in the world. The ever-increasing population in the developing and less developed countries is also a major constraint.

US ethanol producers have had no joy from the stock market. The financial figures of many are awful. Venture capitalists are holding back investment

Biofuels are being touted as a solution to rising fuel prices, growing energy demands, and the need to curb emissions of greenhouse gases. Governments have good reasons for promoting biofuels. Yet, a headlong rush into growing biofuel crops will bring its own problems.

THE global price of basic food commodities and products has increased rapidly over the past three years resulting in increased food insecurity. In Africa, for example, social cohesion, peace and stability, as well as the encouraging economic gains among others, are at risk.

FOR ENVIRONMENT: S. Chandrasekaran, General Manager of the Indian Overseas Bank, Coimbatore, speaking at a workshop on

New Delhi: The Centre is back to the drawing board on the national bio-fuel policy, with warnings emerging that it had jumped the gun by paving the way for commercial expansion of the alternative fuel without plugging the techno-economic gaps in the largely untested sector through an experimental phase.

Biofuel will provide jobs to farmers

BY RASHME SEHGAL
NEW DELHI

FAO

The Union Cabinet has cleared the National Biofuel Policy, and set an indicative 2017 target to blend 20 per cent sugarcane-extracted ethanol with petrol, and non-edible oil with diesel. In the absence of a clear road map ahead, the National Biofuel Coordination Committee headed by the Prime Minister faces an uphill task.

Science-based policy is essential for guiding an environmentally sustainable approach to cellulosic biofuels.

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