Q:  Are biofuels contributing to the global food crisis?

As the world reacts to this year’s spike in food prices, a controversial question on the public and policymakers’ minds is whether U.S. promotion, production, and consumption of biofuels has contributed to this crisis, a crisis whose impact on food-insecure individuals and nations across Africa has been of much concern to AFJN.

There are many different types of biofuels, which by definition are fuels derived from any form of biomass, ranging from corn to forestry byproducts to algae. However, the recent increase in biofuel production has centered on the use of food crops, especially corn and soybean. In 2007, 10% of U.S. soybean crop and 23% of U.S. corn crop went toward ethanol production. In the U.S., according to Keith Collins, former chief economist for the USDA, 100% of the increase in US corn production over the past five years has been dedicated to biofuel use.

On the global scale, there has been little consensus regarding their role in price increases. Yet, while the IMF estimates “suggest that increased demand for biofuels accounts for 70% of the increase in corn prices and 40% of the increase in soybean prices,” even the U.S. administration, which earlier this year had estimated a 1% contribution, argued in June that “U.S. biofuels are responsible for 30% higher corn prices and 10% of the increase in the IMF commodity food price index from April 2007 to April 2008.”

It is important to recognize that while the U.S. has been feeling the impact of these price increases as well, its citizens not nearly as vulnerable as those who feel the price increases much more directly; whereas US citizens consume highly processed foods or meats, thus distilling or delaying the force of the price spikes, rural poor feel the shock most directly. The results of this impact on individuals (reduced nutrient and caloric intake, increased percent of income spent on food rather than education or healthcare) and on societies (instability and disease) have been clearly documented.

Q: Are biofuels a good idea to begin with?

Considering the U.S. economy’s current dependence on carbon-emitting fossil fuels, especially foreign oil, the United States has an economic, political, security, and environmental interest in reducing that dependence. While tax credits and tariffs have been designed to promote domestic production of biofuels, Congress first adopted the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) in 2005, which requires certain percentage of fuels in the U.S. transportation sector to be dedicated to renewable fuel.

The RFS and its associated subsidies have privileged biofuel technologies over others in its vision of energy security. Biofuels are an attractive option because the technology is available, they make use of a resource that is renewable and that AmericaU.S. diesel fuel production. Combining such shortcomings with an understanding of impact on global food prices, it is clear that a more sustainable approach to renewable energy is required. has in abundance (cheap corn and soybeans) and they are compatible with current transportation infrastructure. However, current industrial agricultural models require enormous energy and fossil fuel inputs; the amount of energy gained from such grain-based biofuel production barely surpasses the energy put in. Furthermore, studies have shown that the pressure placed on land use – demand for biofuels encourages the clearing and unsustainable cultivation of land – results in a net increase in carbon emissions, rather than decrease. Finally, based on current estimates, if the entire annual domestic soybean crop were converted to biodiesel, it would only provide about 6.5% of

Q: What should the U.S. do?

Overall, the U.S. must pursue an approach to energy security and independence that does not require a “food vs. fuel” debate – that does not involve a tradeoff between affordable energy and affordable food.  Furthermore, Reduction in U.S. fossil fuel dependence is significant for AFJN, both because of the historic force of a petroleum-informed “national security” effort (AFRICOM today) and its implications for many oil-producing African nations, and because of the clear disproportionate and devastating impact global climate change will have on poorer African nations and individuals.

Biofuels may have an important role in transitioning to a clean and independent energy economy, especially so-called “renewable hydrocarbons” that some cutting-edge corporations have been developing –gasoline and diesel made from carbohydrates or algae. However, such fuels must not be supported at the expense of global food production, nor at the expense of a more comprehensive approach to energy security and sustainability that gives equal weight to efficiency gains, conservation, and a wider range of potential renewable energy sources.

Information is based largely on the testimonies delivered to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources on Thursday June 12, 2008 and a panel discussion held at Oxfam America on Monday June 16, 2008, featuring Keith Collins, former chief economist for the USDA, Marc Cohen from IFPRI , and Eric Washburn from BlueWater Strategies LLC .