"GREEN" ENERGY SOLUTION FUELS FOOD SHORTAGES

23-04-2008

Warnings that the era of cheap food is over have led West Midlands environmentalists to call for the scrapping of European biofuel targets.� The EU wants 10% of our petrol and diesel needs to be met from this supposedly "green" source by 2020.

As Barbara Panvel noted on this website recently, there have been food riots and protests recently in various parts of the world including Haiti, Cameroon Mauritania, Mozambique, Senegal, Uzbekistan, Yemen, Bolivia and Indonesia (see link here).

The cost of rice on the international markets has tripled in a year, and wheat prices have almost doubled.

Fears that the demand for biofuels is taking useful agricultural land out of production led Gordon Brown to hint yesterday that Britain might scale back on its international commitments to this source of energy, but Friends of the Earth wants them taken out of the equation altogether.

West Midlands campaigner Chris Crean said: “Gordon Brown is right to be concerned about the impact of biofuels on food prices and the environment. Evidence is growing that they cause more harm than good.

UK and European targets for increasing biofuel use by adding it to our petrol must be scrapped. And the Prime Minister must do more to tackle transport pollution by improving public transport and insisting that the EU doubles the fuel-efficiency of new cars by 2020.

"Food production must be revolutionised to prevent a global catastrophe. We must stop putting the profits of agri-business ahead of the welfare of millions of poor around the world. This means developing food and trade policies that put people and the planet first and abandoning damaging false solutions such as biofuels and GM."