The Hindu : National : FAO report calls for review of biofuel policies

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FAO report calls for review of biofuel policies

Gargi Parsai

NEW DELHI: The State of Food and Agriculture Report, 2008 of the Food and Agriculture Organisation has called for an urgent review of the biofuel policies and subsidies to preserve the goal of world food security, protect poor farmers, promote broad-based rural development and ensure environmental sustainability.

The new edition of the annual report says that while biofuels present both opportunities and risks, the outcome will depend on the specific context of the country and the policies adopted. “Current policies tend to favour producers in some developed countries over producers in most developing countries. The challenge is to reduce or manage the risks while sharing the opportunities more widely,” says FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf.

Biofuel production based on agricultural commodities increased more than threefold from 2000 to 2007, and now covers nearly two per cent of the world’s consumption of transport fuels. The growth is expected to continue, but the contribution of liquid biofuels (mostly ethanol and biodiesel) to transport energy, and even more so, to global energy use will remain limited. Despite the limited importance of liquid biofuels in terms of global energy supply, the demand for agricultural feedstock (sugar, maize, oilseeds) for liquid biofuels will continue to grow over the next decade and perhaps beyond, putting upward pressure on food prices, says the report.

Other policy measures driving the rush to liquid biofuels, such as mandated blending of biofuels with fossil fuels, as well as tax incentives, have created an artificially rapid growth in biofuel production, according to the report.

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