FUEl vERsUs Food
Fuel versus food:
Is biotechnology the
problem or the solution?
Dr Maxwell Davies, editor of Agrow Intelligence, went along to the Fourth Annual World Congress
on Industrial Biotechnology and Bioprocessing ,organised by BIO (Biotechnology Industry
Organization), to find out what was making the delegates so excited
T
he biofuel revolution has begun.
Bioethanol is here to stay, carbon
emissions are down, energy security is
up, and farmers are richer; but the food
on your plate costs more. Farmers are switching
to corn for ethanol, cutting land use for food.
Cars will guzzle tomorrow's corn as next year's
harvest heads for the gas pumps. In solving
one problem another has been created. It is up
to biotechnology to come up with sustainable
solutions.
The switch to biofuels
Don't get me wrong, biotechnology isn't just
about the development of biofuels. Consumer
manufacturing and chemicals were also covered
at this year's annual biotechnology congress, Vinod Kholsa
but biofuels was still the main talking point and
Source: Bio
it's not hard to see why. In the 2007 State of
the Union address, President Bush committed
the US to increase the supply of alternative countries, such as those in Europe, is likely to such a dramatic increase in investment there is
fuels by setting a mandatory fuels standard to increase by around 2% per year. In other words, improbable. Given the continuing difficulties in
require 35 billion US gallons (over 132 billion the US will become more dependent on foreign Iraq and political tensions with Iran, we cannot
L) of renewable and alternative fuels in 2017. oil and there will be greater competition for expect these countries to produce enough oil
This announcement, coupled with other recent it. Almost two thirds of the world's known oil to satiate world demand. Alternative energy
energy initiatives from the Bush Administration, reserves are located in just five countries: Saudi sources such as biofuels will have to fill that gap.
represents a fantastic opportunity for the Arabia; Kuwait; United Arab Emirates; Iraq; Iran.
development and commercialisation of emerging Aside from the questions of energy security, Fuel versus food
biotechnologies related to biofuels. these Persian Gulf states could, in theory, Recent policy changes and high oil prices have
produce considerably more than their current resulted in an increase in the demand for
The reasons behind what appears to be a sudden daily output, but in practice they are unlikely biofuels. Since 2005, 31 ethanol plants have
change of policy are clear: US oil consumption to. Developing the infrastructure to extract been built in the US, resulting in a surge in
is predicted to rise to almost 25 million barrels more oil would require a significant injection the demand for corn, which is used to produce
of oil a day by 2017. Developing nations, such of foreign investment. However, there are ethanol. Over the past two years, corn has
as China and India, are rapidly increasing their severe restrictions on foreign companies owning doubled in price from $2 to $4 a bushel, whereas
oil consumption, and demand in developed petroleum assets in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, so oil prices have dipped slightly from around
34 May 2007 • www.agrowmag.com
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