Biofuel Backlash - World

Nov 2007
Demand for biofuels like corn-based ethanol is leading to soaring food prices and political instability. The price of wheat and corn has doubled, hitting the poor particularly hard.

Backed by generous government subsidies, the ethanol industry is on a mission to "reduce our dependency on imported oil". Its insatiable demand for corn is "driving world commodity markets", pushing up global prices. Prices of eggs, meat and diary products have also shot up because corn is used in animal feed. "A lot of pork farmers could lose money because of high feed costs", complains farmer Randy Hilleman. But it's the poor, whose staple diet is grains, who will be most affected. "The grain it requires to fill a 25-gallon SUV tank with ethanol will feed one person for a year", explains Lester Brown, Earth Policy Institute. The ethanol boom could create unprecedented global insecurity. Already tortilla prices in Mexico have increased 60%, prompting people to take to the streets. Sceptics question if ethanol can reduce America's dependence on imported oil. Even if America's entire corn crop was converted to fuel, it would only displace 15 per cent of petrol consumption. As most ethanol plants are powered by coal, doubts have also been cast on its green credentials. But the corn lobby blames high petrol prices for rising food costs and complain of an anti-ethanol conspiracy.

Produced by ABC Australia
Distributed by Journeyman Pictures

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[av8tor17b]

There is no "food vs. fuel" problem.

We are producing record corn crops on less land, and still exporting as much or more corn than ever before. Byproducts of ethanol include DDG, used for animal feed, and corn oil, for either food or biodiesel use.

You all need to learn more about ethanol before you make yourself look foolish. Corn is the beginning- soon Cellulostic ethanol will grow, as will fuel from algae. All produce ethanol at a reasonable cost.

[hotmichael3358]

@pegobuilders Also, fermenting the corn to alcohol results in more meat than if you fed the corn directly to the cattle. We can actually increase the meat supply by first processing corn into alcohol, which only takes 28% of the starch, leaving all the protein and fat, creating a higher-quality animal feed than the original corn.

[vcanucks22]

@av8tor17b there is a food vs fuel problem when there is food scarcity around the world. food comes first to all...then we can drive our cars...

[claudelebel55]

@sardakur ..... if they are growing hemp they will still be using the land for something other than food won't they ,,, land on which food used to be grown ..... unless you want to clear more forests to create new land on which to grow your hemp. There is no free lunch. People keep forgetting the hidden costs as well as the negative side effects.

[claudelebel55]

as George W. was saying - the best way to break this addiction is to get addicted to something else :)

[ogre61691]

Corn ethanol is energy negative. Making it useless and damaging on a macroeconomic scale.

[sardakur]

How about using hemp instead and then your food prices wouldn't be affected. Plus hemp can be used to make more then two thousand other products and will save cutting down trees.

[haydenman2]

ethanol takes more energy to produce than it contains

[maplestory142362]

this just automatically got into my favs o-O

[benchracerX]

@machhone not true! the truth is we don't even need to use food products to create fuel. we can create fuel from yard waste, any vegatation waste, even algae which scrubs waste products from other manufacturing and turns that waste into energy that you can use. the food markets don't have to be affected at all. the best thing about it all is that the energy requirements to create the fuel are negligible; the fuel practically creates itself. things will change and soon at that.

[pentiuman]

I also do not believe the message that there's a WIDESPREAD OR LONG TERM problem of using corn for corn-based ethanol, instead of strictly for food uses. (This does not mean that there are not issues in some communities, but the problem is not as bad or the reason as clear as this video implies). We already use corn for so many things besides food. Corn can be used for hundreds of things.

[mikehanoo33]

The most exhaustive study on ethanol’s EROEI, by Isaias de Carvalho Macedo, shows an alcohol energy return of more than eight units of output for every unit of input—and this study accounts for everything right down to smelting the ore to make the steel for tractors.