1 day ago LONDON (AFP) - The debate on biofuels like ethanol made from sugar cane, raged in Britain following the Government's chief scientific adviser said represented threat to food production and a danger to the lives of millions of people worldwide.
Rapid biofuels race unleashed in many countries, including Brazil, means that ever more arable land used for biofuel production instead of food, said John Beddington.
The expert, who is lead counsel for issues government scientists Gordon Brown, made clear that the growing priority given to biofuels, just in time when the demand for food has grown strongly in the world, particularly in the Asian giants, China and India, has a negative impact on food production.
In his first major public speech since his appointment to the post of scientific adviser to the Government, Beddington stressed that biofuels are therefore a real danger to the lives of millions of people worldwide.
By launching this warning, Beddington came into conflict with the Brown government, which has pledged to increase the use of biofuels in the next decades.
The marking of the principal scientific advisor to the United Kingdom about the risk of a food crisis in the coming years occurred while the executive director of World Food Program's Josette Sheeran, underline that global food reserves were at their lowest levels in 30 years.
Sheeran blamed the situation to higher fuel prices and agricultural commodities, as well as the effects of climate change and demand for biofuels.
The UN senior official admitted that it outlines a quick solution to rising food prices and fuels, so food prices will remain high for at least the next two years.
Governments need to "study and think more carefully about the link between the acceleration in biofuels and food supply," said Sheeran, noting also that the demand for cereals for biofuels accelerates inflation. Both
launched Beddington Sheeran as urgent calls to politicians, scientists and farmers to seek alternatives to avoid the risk of a food crisis in the coming years.
"It's hard to imagine how the world will be able to produce enough crops to generate renewable energy at the same time meet the enormous need for food, "he said Beddington, which also denounced the destruction of tropical forests to grow biofuels.
The biofuels debate raged at a time when prices of many foods soared last year, which has been attributed in part by the experts to the growing demand for crops that produce biofuels such as palm oil.
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