energieportal24 - Government report shows that biofuel will raise food prices by 20%

The British Government has received their commissioned report revealing shocking facts about biofuel. Due to the large demand for biofuels the prices for food are bound to rise up to 20% which will force millions into poverty and might even raise gas emissions causing global warming. The report showed that in the next 10 years some of the food prices will even rise by 75%.

It declared the next step should be to slow down the switch from fossil fuels to green fuels until there are ways of producing biofuel with less co2 emissions.

Professor Ed Gallagher´s report takes a good look at the growing concern that the biofuels that were introduced to replace the fossil fuels and therefor shrink the co2 emissions worldwide are in fact contraproductive. Experts say that the land on which biofuel is now produced used to be used to produce food and this food is now missing. Due to this food shortage the demand is rising and with it the price.

Professor Gallagher of the Renewable Fuel Agency, said: 'We cannot afford to abandon biofuels as part of a low carbon transport future. Equally, we cannot continue producing biofuels which are ultimately more environmentally and socially damaging than the fossil fuels they seek to replace.'

The report shows that if the demand for biofuels grow as it has in the past then the food prices will grow by 10% to 20% by 2020. The price of oil seed could go up 75 per cent. Grain prices in Europe will rise by 15% and sugar by 7% if the growth continued.

By supporting biofuel we are also raising gas emissions. In many countries forest landscapes are destroyed to make way for biofuel crops which causes huge amounts of co2 and damages the environment. But even if forests were spared and biofuels could be produced with less co2 emission then global greenhouse gas emissions would only fall by 1 % by 2020.

The British government has put 2.5% biofuel in each litre of petrol and diesel. By 2010 it is planned to be raised to 5% in the UK and by 10% in Europe. The Report by Professor Gallagher says that the percentage rise should be put to 0.5% rise each year which would mean that the 5% level would be hit by 2013-2014. This would give enough time for controls to stop the price rising.

Greenpeace chief scientist Dr Doug Parr said: "This review sends a stark message - using food crops to fuel our cars risks making climate change worse and increasing food prices for the world's poorest people.

"Gordon Brown must now follow one of the key recommendations of his own report and call for an end to the EU's hastily adopted and potentially damaging biofuel targets." Jason Grace Basco Tec Internet Limited Technologiepark 13 33100 Paderborn Deutschland