Unless you are recently estranged from Mars, you will know food is up in price. There are a number of factors behind this. Rising population levels, coupled with growing wealth in countries such as China and India, are creating more demand. Last year we were unlucky with the weather, and the world saw a series of bad harvests. But the third element is the use of bio-fuel. And yesterday, Gordon Brown, his clunking right fist punching into the soft underbelly of the bio-fuel lobby, entered the debate.
It’s a kind of domino. Oil goes up in price, so we look for alternatives. Bio-fuel is hailed as the answer, and up goes the price of food. Of course, bio-fuel has its critics; as it currently stands, it is not supposed to be especially good for the environment, and the carbon footprint created from growing the crops that yield bio-fuel, is almost as great as the carbon which is saved.
In Brazil, it’s a problem because rain forest is often cleared to create land for growing sugar. In the US, growing corn takes a massive toll on the environment. Last year, a UN report said the “use of large-scale mono-cropping could lead to significant biodiversity loss, soil erosion and nutrient leaching.” The report also warned that the further development of bio-fuel could put the supply of fresh water under pressure too.
In the US, the growing of bio-fuel is good for jobs of course, and helps alleviate calls to raise tariffs against overseas agriculture products. But the argument that bio-fuel is currently good for the environment is very shaky. In time, this may improve; it is said that bio-fuel created from woody plants, such as switch grass or poplar, and even more promisingly, algae – could be much more environmentally friendly. The trouble with getting our fuel from these sources is that at the moment the industry in these areas is tiny. In the US, unions want to see current jobs protected, not some vague idea that new industries may emerge that could lead to new jobs in the future.
Of course, our resources of solar power, and to a lesser extent wind power, are virtually unlimited. By switching to generating electricity from these sources, there will not suddenly be an increase in the price of sunshine, or wind.
Yesterday, our Gordon said, “We need urgently to examine the impact on food prices of different kinds and production methods of bio-fuels and ensure that their use is responsible and sustainable,” said the Prime Minister with a clunking right fist in a letter to other G7 leaders. He added, “Rising food prices threaten to roll back progress we have made in recent years on development.”
The trouble is, not only is the cost of food going up, so too is the cost of oil, again. This morning, black gold rose above $110 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. This morning’s price was not a record – but it was only just short of last month’s all-time high.
Comments
Trackbacks