The use of grain to make ethanol will rise by 31% to 124 million tonne in 2008-09, according to initial projections suggested by the International Grains Council (IGC).
The FAO World Food Summit, which was addressed by President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday, is aimed at forging a common international response to the food crisis. The immediate goal of the June 3-5 Summit - which is being attended by more than 40 Heads of State - will be to secure a massive flow of assistance to the world's hungriest people and to ensure that subsistence farmers across the globe will have the seeds and fertilisers they need to plant their crops this season.
A private firm's $100 million plan of setting up maize-based ethanol generation plant near Port Qasim Karachi has been not been implemented so far. Sources in Sindh government told Business Recorder on Monday that poor law and order and political instability in the country had put the project in doldrums, as the foreign investor company is reluctant to invest here in such circumstances.
In the search for renewable energy, turning low-value materials like switchgrass and corn husks into ethanol to fuel cars is something of a Holy Grail. In theory, these materials would replace corn as the main feedstock for ethanol in North America, reducing the pressure on farmland that has played a role in rising food prices and put drivers into competition with hungry people. But scientists on the front lines of this search are finding that making the process commercially and environmentally viable is proving much harder than some of the hype would suggest.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Sunday he would seek to convince world leaders gathering in Rome this week that ethanol is not to blame for global food inflation threatening millions with hunger. Brazil is the world's largest ethanol exporter and a pioneer in sugar-cane based biofuels, making it a target of critics who say ethanol is behind increases in world commodity prices.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Sunday he would seek to convince world leaders gathering in Rome this week that ethanol is not to blame for global food inflation threatening millions with hunger. Brazil is the world's largest ethanol exporter and a pioneer in sugar-cane based biofuels, making it a target of critics who say ethanol is behind increases in world commodity prices.
Biofuels are being promoted as energy sources that could reduce both dependence on imported oil and fossil fuel emissions. Currently, a large percentage of biofuels are produced from food crops, a situation that some experts say is leading to food insecurity around the world.
Biofuels are held up as a relatively easy solution to the twin problems of petroleum dependence and carbon emissions. But new research suggests that fuels such as corn-based ethanol may cause as many problems as they solve.
The current biofuel policies of rich countries are neither a solution to the climate crisis nor the oil crisis, and instead are contributing to a third: the food crisis. In poor countries, biofuels may offer some genuine development opportunities, but the potential economic, social, and environmental costs are severe, and decision makers should proceed with caution.
