Biofuels policy continues to damage developing world
Monday, February 15, 2010
According to the report, EU consumption of biofuels is set to increase fourfold by 2020, with the Union unable to meet its production needs, leading to around two-thirds of biofuels being imported from the developing world.
This will leas to mass hunger and increases in food prices.
The report, Meals Per Gallon: The Impact of Industrial Biofuels on People and Global Hunger, comes as the EU continues to push its 2020 renewables policy, which foresees that 20% of Europe’s energy needs should come from renewable sources, with a mandatory 10% used in transport.
“There are plans by EU member states to increase their share of renewables”, explains Tim Rice, Biofules Policy Officer with AtionAid, and report author, “and almost all of these will come from biofuels made form agricultural crops, such as wheat and maize”.
“There are other options, such as electric vehicles, but the infrastructure is just not there, so more and more it will be biofuels”.
As well as food price increase and hunger in the developing world, the report also predicts an increase in ‘land-grabbing’ whereby EU multinationals acquire land in Africa and elsewhere with the intention of producing biofules for the European market.
This practice has already begun, says Rice, whose sources have globally around 5million hectares of land have been, or an in the process of being bought-up by corporations, in places such as Brazil, India, Guatemala, Tanzania, Mozambique and Ghana.
Right now, says Tim Rice, there is a place for sustainable biofeuls, such as oils that can be recycled, but as it stands industrial biofuels continue to push world hunger and climate change.
There is a simple way to help stem this negative tide, he concludes: “the better, cheaper option is to reduce the consumption of energy, especially transport”.
