Does Biofuel Production Threaten Food Security

The world’s population is growing despite hunger and diseases which spread around the globe, it is anticipated that in 2050 more than 9 billion people have to share the limited resources which are necessary to meet all needs of humanity. According to the many forecasts it will be especially difficult to provide sufficient food, water and energy for a sustainable livelihood. In order to provide sufficient food to 9 billion people the food production has to be raised by 50% compared to the present level according to FAO data. The increased food production and the energy provision should rely to a great deal on environmental friendly sustainable resources also with regard to the climate change mitigation. These two requirements are very often considered as competing with each other because a major share of sustainable energy should be based on biofuels, i.e. on substances originating to a large part from agricultural resources, resources which have also to be available for securing the food supply for the world’s huge population. The problem becomes especially evident by considering that at the present time “first generation” biofuels are produced from soy-, palm-, and rape seed oils or starch and sugar crops like maize, wheat, or sugar cane which are all valuable food resources.

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By Walter Spiess - President of IAFoST