Global biofuel production tripled between 2000 and 2007, but still accounts for less than 3 percent of the global transportation fuel supply, yet that tiny percentage has already had a significant and grossly disproportionate impact on global food prices.
Much enthusiasm by the Green Party (Trevor Sargent et al) for biofuels, it creates jobs along with being environmentally friendly, yada yada yada. Fine Gael too believe that biofuels should be an essential part of our energy mix. It would help us meet Kyoto targets and support jobs in rural communities. All to be applauded. Such is the consensus in Irish politics. The European Union too has recently issued a directive calling for biofuels to meet 5.75% of transportation fuel needs by 2010. The message is clear: Biofules/wind/solar good. Everything else bad.
But all this talk is in a single-issue (The Environment) vacuum that disregards the effect it has on food prices. Most Irish people have a level of disposable income that makes them far removed from real poverty and with Peter Mandelson appearing to be pursuing a cheap food policy at the current WTO negotiations, there is not likely to be any risk of famine in the EU in the future!
But biofuel production, even the limited amount we already have, has a very real impact in the marketplace for food products. Yesterdays Guardian front page highlighted a global food crisis which has seen staple food price rises of up to 80% in some countries and Simon Jenkins points out Biofuels threaten food supplies, rainforest and climate – yet political leaders push them in the name of the environment. The grain required to fill the petrol tank of a Range Rover with ethanol is sufficient to feed one person per year. Assuming the petrol tank is refilled every two weeks, the amount of grain required would feed a hungry African village for a year. (Source: BBC) In all of this, bare in mind that the actual carbon saving from bio-fuels can vary but research appears to suggest it ranges from none to minimal. As the Iowa caucuses prove, once you go down this route, from a political point of view, there is no going back. Maybe we should think of these issues before we jump head first into the latest environmental sacred cow. It should bring up the great taboo in Irish energy policy: Nuclear, which is far from a panacea, but should at least be considered as an option, although unlikely given that an Act of the Oireachtas has made it illegal; despite the fact we already consume British made nuclear energy and are likely to consume more in the future.
