Brazil's president says biofuel crops are not pushing up food prices

Brazil's president says biofuel crops are not pushing up food prices

www.iht.com

Ethanol production "can be the hope for a development model for many countries, particularly in Africa, Latin America and Asia." Silva told reporters.

"Just look at Haiti today. We can see how many benefits we can take to Haiti if rich and emerging countries like Brazil can make partnerships to invest in third countries and produce (biofuels) there," he said.

Silva said food prices are rising because more of the world's poor are earning enough to buy more and better food, and because people are living longer.

"There is ... no relation with biofuels," he said.

(visit the link for the full news article)



[edit on 4/11/2008 by ThichHeaded]

Well this shouldn't be to surprising to people if you knew about biodiesel before it became popular. I know that there are more ways to do this than just what is being done. We can recycle used vegtable or whatever oils and reuse them in the boidesiel making.

I did have a funny feeling that something was up when they said things would go up. But didn't know why.. This does make some sense in the why part.

www.iht.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Perhaps biofuels are having less of an effect on prices in Brazil, but I heard over in China and India people are struggling since farmers can make more money selling biofuels and more middle-class orientated foods than growing basic crops like rice, so the price of these basic foods has gone up leaving many unable to feed themselves!

This could be a risk for Haiti as described in the article since if their farmers are paid more to produce biofuel, who makes food for the people?

I think biofuels do increase food prices, mainly for those who are at the bottom of the pile. Farmers make more money through biofuels than food, so prefer it. A simple capitalist concept but it can have deadly implications for the struggling poor.

reply to post by ThichHeaded

Silva said food prices are rising because more of the world's poor are earning enough to buy more and better food, and because people are living longer.

"There is ... no relation with biofuels," he said.

I'm going to have to disagree with him here. Growing corn and soybeans for biofuel (ethanol) is driving the price of those foods up. Farmers are growing the crop for fuel instead of food, and this is having a supply side issue. The demand is still high, but the supply is lower. Therefore, the prices raise. Pretty basic economics. There is a relation to biofuels, sorry bud.

However, like you said, we don't have to use corn or soy-based ethanol to provide fuel. I've made myself pretty clear on this board that using food crops for fuel is a terrible idea.

If we want to grow crops for biofuel, it better not be food crops, and it cannot be grown in deforested areas. We can't simply cut down vast areas of rain forest and expect to grow biofuels there. That's not a solution, that's a band-aid. More carbon is released when those trees are cut down than are sequestered in the biofuels themselves.

However, if we grow hemp, switchgrass, wood pulp, and algae oil for fuel as well as use cooking grease, I'm all for it.

The 3 stated above seem to be our best bet. The problem with hemp is that its not legal to grow in the US without a DEA permit unless otherwise regulated by state law. Switchgrass grows pretty much anywhere as does hemp. The great thing about hemp is that its also a food/textile crop, improves the soil for next season, is self-flowering, and very low maintenance (ie low water, low nutrients, can be grown in poor soil).

The benefits of algae have not fully been studied yet. However, algae can be grown literally anywhere that has sun and water. It can be grown year round in a greenhouse.

Algae oil is the way we are going to power all our diesel automobiles in the near future. The government is even researching it .

You do know they are the leading market in ethanol based gas for running cars.

They don't import oil much, they are using biodiesel to run their vehicles and such..

But I do agree with you Biggie about what you said about everything else. so, in essence we agree..

Nice post btw, I really like reading what you have to say.

Do you really think that Brazil's president is the best source for accurate info on the dangers of biofuels? I mean, his country is making a pretty penny right now off of them, why would he want to stop his cash cow.

This is kind of like using Exxon as a reliable source on the environmental effects of oil. They aren't going to be honest if it means painting their own company in poor light.

considering nobody else is qualified to answer the question I would say yes.

Considering they run mostly on biofuel, I would say yes.

Considerings they are not crack fiends to petrol I would yet again say yes.

ALtho I do think there are better ways of doing this than using actual food as Biggy pointed out earlier.

[edit on 4/14/2008 by ThichHeaded]

Ok... my 2 cents (that's about one US dollar to you and me)...
I can't argue with much of what anyone said above except this guy... "Brazil's president says biofuel crops are not pushing up food prices"
C'mon... can we trust anyone with the title of 'President' these days?

Of course biofuel is pushing prices up.

In Europe and America, farmers have seen the huge amount of profit that can be generated from the biofuel industry. It is not just because the emerging economies can now afford a Western diet, biofuel is playing a significant role in food inflation.

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva should do a little investigation before making outlandish claims in reference to food prices.