Biofuels 'crime against humanity'

UN is worried about the growing trend of using crops to produce biofuels as a replacement for petrol and believe this will lead to severe food shortages for the poor and cause more hunger.

Jean Ziegler, the UN special reporter on the right to food, has condemned the wide use of crops as biofuels and says it will lead to widespread hunger if not curtailed or controlled. The growth in the production of biofuels has helped the prices of some crops to record levels and those who want to use it for food purposes will find it hard to purchase them and will cause severe hunger. Ziegler complained because of biofuels needs others are converting many other food crops like maize and sugar into fuel. He said this has created a recipe for disaster. He said it is a crime against humanity to divert arable land to the production of crops and then burned for fuel. Ziegler wants a five year ban on this biofuels practice. He said during that period, more research or technical advances can be made to use agricultural wastes such as corn cobs, banana leaves etc., rather than crops themselves to produce fuel. Biofuels may be less environmentally damaging alternative to petroleum but will seriously affect the poor and in the future others also with shortages of food crops. In the US, the biofuels trend has already contributed to a sharp rise in food prices as farmers are converting from wheat, soya to corn, which is then turned to ethanol. Corn is easy to produce and manage, and with the high prices for biofuels use, the farmers will tend to produce more of it. But the trend has contributed to a sharp rise in food prices as farmers, particularly in the US, switch production from wheat and soya to corn, which is then turned into ethanol. The IMF also last week voiced concern that the increasing global reliance on grain as a source of fuel could have serious implications for the world's poor. I agree with Ziegler, with growing population, the arable land is shrinking in size with many of them converting to homes and offices. With the limited lands, we need every ounce of them for food cultivation instead if people start to use it for biofuels, then the food supplies will lead to severe shortages. They should rely more on Solar and Wind power, one can't solve a problem with another problem, biofuels in this case.