Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
8
Effects of Bio-Fuels on Food Security
8.1
Use of Land
One of the obvious impacts of biofuels on food security is the use of land to culti-
vate feedstock or raw material for biofuel production, instead of conventional food
on that land.
8.2
Price and Availability of Food to the Poor
The other potential impact of biofuels on global food security is the availability of
food to poor and also because the division of land resources for food production
may hamper adequate availability of food to the poor (DeFries et al.
2007
).
8.3
FAO 2008 Report
An estimate provided by the FAO report in 2008 establishes that biofuel production
can cause an increase in prices and can also undermine food self-sufficiency at na-
tional levels. The fuel can be provided at comparatively low prices but at the same
time people would have to face high food prices. It is assumed that the crises in the
prices of sugar crop in Brazil and soybean and corn in USA in 2007-2008 has been
due to production of biofuels from these crops. According to the emerging trends
it is predicted that increasing demand of biofuels will cause an increase in the food
prices on global scale.
8.4
Use of Marginal Lands
The unproductive areas also referred to as the marginal areas are not assumed to
be imposing any harmful environmental or social impacts but Rossi and Lambrou
(
2008
) pointed out that these areas support income of some people especially those
who depend on this area in the time of need. Apart from the issues of land ownership
by the local people, the land is used by biofuel producing companies which jeop-
ardize the social, economic and also cultural setup of these areas (Tengnäs
2012
).
8.5
Water Resources
One of the other concerns over the use of biofuels is the division of available land
for the growth of food crops or biofuel producing crops. The crops mainly used for
