The Correlation Between Biofuel and Hunger

UN Wire’s headline today states that the European Commission is discussing capping quotas on the production of food-based bio fuels because current policies are resulting in the removal of crops from the global supply chain, thus attributing to hunger problems. This successfully exhibits the constant struggle of resource management, as Lianna’s essay focused on.

This proposal would limit biofuel usage to 5% until 2020 down from the current goal of 10% for transport energy from renewable resources. While the current global economy is shifting towards renewable resources, which I fully support in the long run, it presents definite problems today. While we are using food-based bio fuel for transport costs, we have overlooked its effect on the nutrition of the world’s people.

While all of our readings have emphasized the free-market economy and expanding trade in at least some aspects, this requires more transportation, whether that is of capital, goods, or people. In the transportation sector, there has been an emphasis placed on renewable resources to sustain our current levels of travel and trade and make it possible so that these numbers can grow. Free trade has the potential to benefit all parties involved and the application of renewable resources of energy fully supports this claim. However, with this statement by the European Commission, we again see the unfairness that developing countries are forced in to, regardless of intentions. Renewable resources are not meant to cause harm, but they undoubtedly have.

While the answer it not to simply revert back to unsustainable practices, we must be even more cautious in the decisions we are making in all aspects of globalization. I wouldn’t have thought that our methods of transporting goods and services are directly impacting the lives of many; this only goes to show the inherent unfairness present between developed and developing countries that we must continue to be wary of.