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Ever since the Kyoto Protocol was signed in 1997, people across the globe have become more concerned and aware of issues on climate change and carbon emissions.
One potential solution presented to address these concerns is renewable energy including the use of biofuels. To provide a brief overview, biofuels are more environment-friendly than regular gasoline fossil fuels because thesey come from renewable sources. They also give out fewer emissions. Studies show that using biofuels can reduce pollutants or emissions like ozone-forming volatile organic compounds by 15%; carbon monoxide by 40%; particulate emissions by 20%; nitrogen oxide emissions by 10%; and sulphate emissions by 80%.
 Countries worldwide have started the advocacy on using ethanol-blended gasoline as alternative fuel. The production of ethanol involves the use of feedstock and some commodities such as sugarcane and corn. are popular feedstocks for ethanol production. Hence, the advocacy for ethanol-blended gasoline was met with much criticism. One of the issues frequently hurled against the production and use of ethanol-blended gasoline is the “food vs. fuel” argument.
“Food vs. fuel” refers to the possible dilemma of converting farms or croplands for biofuel production. This may negatively affect the food supply and food prices on a global scale.
Does the production of ethanol lead to increasing food prices and deteriorating food supplies?
The answer is NO.
In terms of increasing food prices, the changes in the prices of food products are not directly related to the production and use of ethanol-blended gasoline. In fact, the fluctuating prices of petroleum products in the world market have more effects on food prices than the production of ethanol. For one, the transportation of inputs and outputs for agricultural production alone requires the use of gasoline. There are actually several studies conducted which show that the huge or drastic increases in the prices of petroleum products have prompted a corresponding increase in food prices. The recent increase in oil prices have resulted to thrice food prices impact compared to the impacts of biofuel production.
As for food supply concerns, in some countries like the United States which uses corn as the primary feedstock, the corn being used for the production of ethanol is field corn. Field corn is grown mainly for the purpose of feed, silage, and processing. This is not the same type of corn as those consumed by people. As such, the use of corn feedstock in ethanol production does not have substantial impact on food prices and food supply.
Here in the Philippines, the major feedstock being used is sugarcane. Only those sugarcane areas that are equivalent to surplus production are utilized for ethanol production. In less than two years, by February 2011 to be exact, the Biofuels Act of 2006 mandates that all fuel products in the Philippines should have 10% ethanol blend. This will surely increase the demand for ethanol. Still, the Filipinos do not have to worry about this affecting the food supply and prices since the sugarcane requirements for bioethanol productionthis will be secured from expansion areas and not from the existing agricultural lands. In this case, ethanol production does not have any significant effects on both food supplies and prices.
In addition, there is always the option of using non-food or non-edible feedstock for ethanol production. This includes biomass and algae. In some cases, food by-products or co-products like citrus peels and used vegetable oil may also be used as feedstock. So there is actually no need to worry when the demand for ethanol increases in the near future.
With this, we can see that concerns over food supplies and prices due to the production of biofuels are ineffectual. Biofuel production does not have any direct correlation to the increase in food prices as well as the decrease in food supply. This will hopefully help encourage Filipinos out there to give ethanol-blended fuel a chance. |
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