Having worked for the last 12 years with biofuels, I can tell you that some convictions are difficult to overcome. This is exactly the case with biofuels : no matter how many papers are published or how much new scientific evidence comes to light, many people continue to think that all biofuels are bad for the environment, they cost money to taxpayers and, on top of this, they contribute to starving the food insecure population of this planet! I’ve read with great interest the E15Initiative policy options resulting from the Expert Group on Agriculture and Food Security , written by Professor Tangermann, for whom I have great respect – he was part of the jury for my PhD thesis! However, I must say that I have quite a different vision regarding biofuels. Let’s start with the impact of biofuels on food prices. Yes, in 2008 almost all international organisations blamed biofuels for being the main contributors to the agricultural price peaks. But we are in 2016 and, since then, biofuels production increased by 40 percent while agricultural prices dropped by 18 percent according to the FAO Food Price Index . A multitude of papers, produced by the World Bank ,...
Written by Géraldine Kutas