The Coupled Economics of Food and Biofuels

In his most recent column, Chris Mooney traced the complexities of the the current debate over biofuels. One major concern, particularly in light of the Searchinger paper that recently appeared in Science, is that increased demand for biofuels leads farmers to plant more feedstocks for ethanol and devote less land to growing food. The New York Times tackled the issue of food crops yesterday, offering a substantial cover story on the growing gap between global grain production and soaring grain demand:

Everywhere, the cost of food is rising sharply. Whether the world is in for a long period of continued increases has become one of the most urgent issues in economics.

Many factors are contributing to the rise, but the biggest is runaway demand. In recent years, the world’s developing countries have been growing about 7 percent a year, an unusually rapid rate by historical standards.

The high growth rate means hundreds of millions of people are, for the first time, getting access to the basics of life, including a better diet. That jump in demand is helping to drive up the prices of agricultural commodities.

As Mooney learned from talking with Natural Resources Defense Council analyst Nathanael Green, the biofuels issue is “wickedly complicated.” Understanding the land use implications of biofuels will obviously require a sophisticated comprehension of the growing demand for wheat in countries around the world–because we all need clean fuel and healthy food.

Tags: biofuels

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