The impact of biofuels on food security

Energy research and social science, 2020

Biofuels will not only be a solution for a good environmental quality, but may also bring an increase in food production. This scenario, which refers to sufficiently huge supply of biofuels, capable to bring better environmental quality vis-à-vis food security. Biofuels have the potential to offer a win-win opportunity to improve environmental quality, whereby better environmental quality may promote a sizeable increase in food production. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to investigate the impact of biofuels on food security, given the level of environmental quality in 51 developing countries. The results of dynamic generalized method of moments indicate that the interaction term between biofuels and environmental quality has a positive and significant impact on food security. This implies that biofuels will initially bring about a competition to food security but in a later stage it can lead to a favorable condition for agriculture. Therefore, significant expansion and consumption of biofuels could contribute to increment in food security and sustain the environmental quality. 2019, from which bioethanol made up 78 percent of total biofuels production with the remaining 22 percent accounted for biodiesel. Based on [4], developed countries' production of biofuels has grown progressively in 2019, which is 9.9 mln L greater than in 2015. For developed countries, the main biofuels producer is the United States, driven by the subsidies to bioethanol producer and environmental legislation [5]. While, in developing countries, the production of the renewable energy coming from biofuels has reached 66.3 mln L in 2019. In developing countries, the major biofuels producing countries are Brazil, Indonesia, China, Argentina and Thailand [6,5]. At present, biofuels are liquid fuels (either bioethanol or biodiesel) and mainly produced from agricultural products, leading to a stiff competition or head-aching trade-off between demand for food consumptions and biofuels production. Higher demand for agricultural outputs for biofuel production may adversely affect food availability or supply such as sugarcane, sugar beet, cassava, corn, rapeseed, soya bean, palm oil, wheat and others if they are switched from production of food to biofuels. As a result, it may aggravate the problem of currently insufficient supply of food, leading to acute hunger problem in many areas. Studies on the relationship between food security and biofuels, albeit limited, are sharing almost similar conclusion that the development of biofuels reduces food supplies and increases food

Biomass and Bioenergy, 2020

The demand for biofuels is expected to increase significantly in the coming years. However, there are major concerns on the impact of increased biofuel production on food security. As biofuel affects food security in various ways, it is important to assess the impacts on the four pillars of food security, availability, access, utilisation and stability. The objective of this study is to ex-ante quantify impacts of biofuel production on the four pillars of food security for urban and rural households in a developing country. We illustrate this for Ghana, which proposed a 10% biodiesel and 15% ethanol mandate for 2030 and which faces food security issues. We used the computable general equilibrium (CGE) model MAGNET in combination with a household and a nutrition module to quantify 13 food security indicators. The results show that the largest food security effects of the biofuel mandate are negative impacts on food prices and import dependency. However, the projected food security impacts of the biofuel mandate in 2030 are relatively small compared to the projected food security effects of economic development in Ghana towards 2030. Our approach enables ex-ante quantification of the effects of biofuel on the four pillars of food security and the differentiation of the effects between urban and rural households. Although improvements can be made, the approach means a big step forward compared to the stateof-the-art knowledge on food security impacts of biofuel production and it could contribute to identify options to minimise negative and optimise positive food security effects.

This paper provides microeconomic evidence on food security impacts of privately organized biofuel outgrower schemes in Ethiopia. We conducted a household and community level survey and evaluated the impact of castor bean farming. We use endogenous switching regressions to analyze the impact on food security. Food security (as measured by a "food gap") and food caloric intake is significantly better in households producing castor beans. "Fuel" and "food" are complements rather than substitutes at the micro-level in castor production in Ethiopia.

Applied Energy, 2014

First generation biofuels have a cost range of 5-45 $/GJ for all settings considered in this study. Second generation biofuels have a cost range of 14-26 $/GJ for all settings considered in this study. There is higher uncertainty in cost estimates for second than first generation biofuels. Key cost factors are labour costs, agricultural efficiency, biomass yields and conversion costs. Acquiring location specific data is essential for accurate cost estimation. a b s t r a c t Net Present Value (NPV) and total production cost calculations are made for first and second generation biofuels in 74 settings, covering 5 fuel output types, 8 feedstock types, 12 countries and 8 combinations of agricultural management systems between 2010 and 2030. Yields are assumed to increase due to better crop management and improved varieties. High NPVs (meaning profitable production) are calculated for cassava (up to 16,000 $/ha) and palm production (up to almost 7000 $/ha). But cassava can also have a negative NPV which indicates that the project investment is not without risk. The calculated NPVs for jatropha range from À900 to 2000 $/ha, while for sugarcane and soy the NPV is always positive, (2500-5000 $/ha and 200-3000 $/ha respectively) and therefore profitable. Total production costs in 2010 are estimated to vary from 5 to 45 $/GJ for 1st generation feedstocks in 2010, and from around 10-35 $/GJ in 2020, compared to 20-30 $/GJ for fossil fuels. Argentina and Malaysia are the regions with the lowest production costs for biofuel (soy and palm biodiesel for 11-15 $/GJ and 8-23 $/GJ respectively), although potential for cost reduction exists in other regions. Production costs of 2nd generation biofuels are estimated to be 17-26 $/GJ in 2020 and 14-23 $/GJ in 2030. Poplar based synfuel production in Ukraine has the lowest costs (14-17 $/ GJ) and rice straw based bioethanol the highest (23-26 $/GJ) -for both the short and long term. The time between investment and benefits, as well as the size of investment and the alternative commodity markets, varies with the type of feedstock. The choice of feedstock therefore depends on the local agricultural system, and the preferences and means of the local farmers. Key to the competitive production of 2nd generation fuels is the optimisation of the conversion process, which dominates overall production costs (with 35-65% of total costs). Also important is the efficient organisation of supply chain logistics, especially for the low energy density feedstocks such as wheat straw -requires densification early in the chain. Key factors in the economic analysis are: labour costs and requirements, agricultural efficiency, conversion cost and biomass yields. Acquiring accurate location specific data is essential for detailed analyses. gross domestic product (GDP), and mitigation of local pollutant emissions . The main drivers for the deployment of biofuels include:

2014

The basis for the presented analyses regarding the global market of raw materials for the production of biofuels was mostly statistical data published by the USDA, while statistical materials published by the FAO and F.O. Licht was used, above all, when analysing the global market of biofuels. Other available sources that were used include data from the World Bank. The report also uses a number of pieces of information and opinions published in economic and economic-agricultural literature, regarding the interrelations between the market of biofuels and food security on the global scale (the global perspective). The study is an attempt to take a comprehensive and multifaceted look at problems of the global production of biofuels in the context of the production of bioenergy and food security.

2016

The long-running "food versus fuel" debate has focussed on the impact of biofuels on food security, and, therefore, the justification of government policies to encourage biofuel production. There has been particular criticism of the impact of US and EU biofuel policies on food availability and food prices, with many reports suggesting that rising biofuel production has been largely responsible for reduced global food supplies and higher food prices. hunger. Indeed, there is an overriding need to better understand the dynamics and impacts of increased food prices on rural households in least developed countries.

Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefining, 2007

The production of ethanol and biodiesel has been growing rapidly in Brazil, the USA and the EU. Although the current share of overall fuel consumption is quite small, if biofuels become a global mainstream energy source, their production will eventually affect the traditional food and feedstock market. This may cause further problems in already food-insecure nations (mainly developing countries) owing to food price increases. This perspective discusses possible responses to supply variability that developing countries may make to mitigate the odds against them and take advantage of the opportunities offered by price increases through effi cient marketing systems, investing in agricultural research, improving agricultural practices, and developing an extension system focusing on the sustainable use of limited land and renewable resources. Developing technology that can convert cellulosic materials to biofuels effi ciently will also help defuse the demand stress on traditional food supplies worldwide.

Environmental Science & Policy, 2009

Iraqi Journal of Industrial Research (IJOIR), 2022

The aim of this study is to shed light on the importance of biofuels as an alternative to conventional energy, in addition to the importance of preserving agricultural crops, which are the main source of this fuel, to maintain food security, especially in developing countries. The increase in global oil prices, in addition to the fear of global warming, are among the main factors that draw the world’s attention to searching for alternative sources of traditional energy, which are sustainable on the one hand, and on the other hand reduce carbon emissions. Therefore, the volume of global investment in renewable energy in general, and in liquid biofuels and biomass in particular, has increased. Global fears emerged that the excessive conversion of large farms suitable for growing food to energy production would threaten global food security. In the first ten years of the new millennium, biofuel production increased fivefold, and the largest increase in biofuel production was recorded in 2007-2008, coinciding with a sharp rise in food prices. Compared to the average food prices in the period 2002-2004, the average global prices of cereals, oils and fats traded were 2 to 2.5 times higher in 2008, this continuous increase in the use of food crops to produce biofuels has reflected on global food security. Accordingly, this review article will address previous studies on biofuel production; identify the theoretical framework for the concept of biofuels and its characteristics, and the relationship between biofuels and food security. In this study, we presented biofuels, which are considered one of the important categories in the field of renewable energy and its environmental and economic effects, as well as the experiences of some countries in its production, and the possibility of benefiting from the natural resources available for its production. We will discuss the scientific (chemical) principles of biofuel production.

SSRN Electronic Journal

We developed Dynamic Inter Regional Computable General Equilibrium (IR-CGE) for Energy and Agriculture Model that incorporates geographic features into CGE. Within the context of comparative advantage we demonstrate how the biofuel policy impact on trade and food security. We find that biofuel policy may benefit for exporters countries which mostly are developing countries and cost for importers countries. In term of geographical analysis, European Union may trading with neighbor country and independent for biofuel commodities from developing countries. Meanwhile, food security issues in developing countries may lead more fluctuated price in agriculture price than in developed countries; in supply side trade liberalization may increase in welfare export and output accordingly.