Oxfam : “Biofuels are presented in rich countries as a solution to two crises: the climate crisis and the oil crisis. But they may not be a solution to either, and instead are contributing to a third: the current food crisis.” http://www.oxfam.org/en/policy/another-inconvenient-truth
In a rather long report Oxfam International explain that the current rise in production and use of biofuels are pushing people into poverty by “burning food” while contributing to global warming, sometimes more than simply burning normal fuel.
Because now the farmers must at the same time produce more corn/wheat/beets for the growing demand in biofuel they also need to produce more food (meat) for the emerging countries. Total of the grocery cost : more land being deforested that means less carbon fixing surface for the world. Even the Brazilian ethanol that has the best benefit in term of Green House Gaz emission, is offset by the impact of more land being used for the production.
Millions of dollars are pumped into the biofuel industry in the form of subsidies, that has the impact of creating a false demand for products that do not deliver the promise of getting rid of oil dependency and harmful CO2 emissions. Worst those support are “taxing food” and push more people into poverty by diverting important food production into biofuel.
Oxfam recommend the following to the rich countries :
- introduce a freeze on the implementation of further biofuel mandates, and carry out an urgent revision of existing targets that deepen poverty and accelerate climate change;
- dismantle subsidies and tax exemptions for biofuels and reduce import tariffs;
- tackle climate change and fuel security through safe and cost-effective measures, prioritising regulation to enforce ambitious vehicle-efficiency improvements.
Read the complete report here :http://www.oxfam.org/en/policy/another-inconvenient-truth
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