This briefing paper reviews evidence of the impacts of the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) on food prices, with a focus on corn and soy, and presents new analysis on the impact of the RFS on U.S. livestock farmers. Studies examining the relationship between food prices and biofuel demand conclude …
Leading figures from the United Nations met in Switzerland on Monday to chart a solution to dramatic food price increases that have caused hunger, riots and hoarding in poor countries around the world. Vietnam acted to quell panic over rice supplies on Monday, banning speculation in the market after a …
While customers at restaurants in New York City will soon be able to count the calories of their meals in an attempt to curb the obesity epidemic, people in New Delhi are currently counting their grains of rice. From Bolivia to Yemen, people around the world are taking to the …
Alarmed by rising global food prices, some European leaders are rethinking their commitment to use ethanol fuel and are considering other policy changes to lower the costs of basic staples. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown became the latest official to say that the European Union may have to back off …
Once, plant breeders dreamed of plumper tomatoes, heartier soybeans and juicier corn kernels. These days, visions of squat poplars and earless corn stalks are dancing in their heads. They are hoping these new fangled crops will make cost-effective biofuels.
Soaring food prices are a "massacre" of the world's poor and are creating a global nutritional crisis, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Tuesday, calling it a sign that capitalism is in decline. His comments came only hours after the United Nations' World Food Program called more expensive food a …
With global tensions over food supplies mounting, prices of world staples rice and corn surged on Tuesday amid strong demand and concerns over slow planting of the new US corn crop. Meanwhile, the Asian Development Bank warned Asian countries against export controls, and the Inter-American Development Bank said the food-versus-fuel …
Bioethanol and biodiesel are coming under increased criticism for diverting food resources and driving up food prices across the world. Second-generation biofuels are gaining credibility as a solution. Praj Industries has achieved a major breakthrough technology for the production of bioethanol from lignocellulosic feedstock, creating an alternate agri-waste feedstock for …
Developed nations should stop paying agricultural subsidies to encourage biofuel production because the payments are making staple foods more expensive, the Asian Development Bank said Monday. Biofuels should also be re-examined by governments around the world as it is increasingly unclear how environmentally friendly they are, said ADB managing director …
Political will has a big role to play if we are to save our planet. Why is it we cannot find a single green politician in India? It took just a small glass bowl to bring home the message of global warming. Its mouth covered with a thin plastic, the …
Bold reform is needed to deal with the long-term problem of rising food prices, International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn said in an comment piece published yesterday. He wrote in the Financial Times that high food prices were "a serious humanitarian concern" and that more aid would be needed …
Biofuels, once seen as a key factor in curbing greenhouse gas emissions, are behind the current global food crisis, major oil producers and consumers charged at an energy forum here on Monday. "A conflict (is) emerging between foodstuffs and fuel ... with disastrous social conflicts and dubious environmental results,' outgoing …
Developed nations should stop paying agricultural subsidies to encourage biofuel production because the payments are making staple foods more expensive, the Asian Development Bank said Monday. Biofuels should also be re-examined by governments around the world as it is increasingly unclear how environmentally friendly they are, ADB managing director general …
Bolivian President Evo Morales on Monday criticized "some South American presidents" for supporting the use of biofuels, which he said are responsible for high food prices and global hunger. Visiting the United Nations while fighting autonomy referendums called by the opposition at home, the Bolivian president said the increased use …
The European Commission is not starting to backtrack on its target of getting 10 percent of its road transport fuel from crops and biomass by 2020, a spokesman said on Monday. The January proposals have become increasingly controversial amid soaring world food prices and fears that farm land in developing …
Food inflation in the time of rising fuel prices has a new dimension: diversion of more and more farmland for bio-fuel production. Three experts debate whether food and fuel are either/or choice. What is the long-term solution for obtaining food security? Can a multilateral body like the WTO or UN …
Britain will push for changes in European Union biofuels targets if a review of British policy shows rising biofuels production drives up food prices and harms the environment, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Tuesday. Brown is due to meet development experts and retail and farmers' representatives later on Tuesday …
Rick Wagoner, General Motors' president and chief executive, has dismissed United Nations research that links biofuel production to rising food prices as "shockingly misinformed". The blunt assessment by the head of the world's largest car company reinvigorates intense debate about ostensible social costs and environmental benefits of biofuels, a burgeoning …
High food prices are today a serious humanitarian concern. They are also a source of macroeconomic instability affecting budgets, trade balances and, of course, incomes almost everywhere in the world. Global rice prices have increased more than 50 per cent so far this year and most other food prices are …
