When I attended the Washington International Renewable Energy Conference back in March, I found myself perturbed by the schedule of events for the high-level "Ministerial" conference attendees. They had the option at any time to attend either a biofuel-related panel, a wind/solar/geothermal panel, or... Another biofuel panel. Having already learned about the high costs of creating biofuel, I found it puzzling that leaders from around the world were obviously being encouraged to embrace biofuels.
The Guardian just released a report that should convince even the most diehard biofuel fans that their devotion is misled:
Biofuels have forced global food prices up by 75% - far more than previously estimated - according to a confidential World Bank report obtained by the Guardian.
The damning unpublished assessment is based on the most detailed analysis of the crisis so far, carried out by an internationally-respected economist at global financial body.
The figure emphatically contradicts the US government's claims that plant-derived fuels contribute less than 3% to food-price rises.
(Photo courtesy of Flickr user Darwin Bell, shared under a Creative Commons license.)
That's disturbing that the biofuel panel was always an option... huh.
Posted by: Becca | July 18, 2008 at 12:53 PM