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24 Jan Drewitz Intern at German Emirati Joint Council for Industry and Commerce AHK Dubai Biofuels can be described as liquid fuels derived from different organic renewable resources such as corn soy or sugar cane The use of biofuels strongly varies in different countries but the overall prediction suggests that it stands to become a profitable market worldwide in the foreseeable future The use of biofuels however comes with its fair share of challenges several studies have reported that its usage can have severe impacts on the world s food disposability and price Competition for land The most obvious problem of growing ELRIXHO FURSV RQ HOGV ZKLFK LV WKH prevailing way to produce biofuels is that it requires land causing competition to other forms of land use mainly food production For instance the European Union plans to have 10 per cent biofuel usage by 2020 which would need an extra area of 5 2 million hectares for growing crops translating into an area bigger than the Netherlands As a result farmers have to expand their crop land often resulting in deforestation or land clearance According to a study by the Princeton University US half of the land now used for biofuels was formerly crop land used for food production A further problem of expanding crop land is besides the environmental impacts that for 100 calories of biofuel only 75 calories are replaced for nutrition causing a drop of 25 per cent for human nutrition availability With the ongoing pace of development the US Marine Biological laboratory even states that biofuel crops will overtake food crops in terms of growing areas at the end of this century Food prices There are different variables affecting the global food price of different crops such as speculation or draughts but ELRIXHOV KDYH EHHQ LGHQWL HG DV DQ important factor contributing to the price development The recent report of the Committee on World Food Security a part of the UN network points out WKDW D YH WLPH ULVH RI ELRIXHO XVH RYHU the last decade has resulted in doubled or tripled global food prices The main aspect of biofuels adding to this trend is a drop in food and feed availability Rising food prices mostly stays invisible in industrialised countries but harms the people of poorer regions of the world no longer being able to afford their food Future of biofuels Nevertheless biofuels as an idea is worth watching and not a problem in general The renewability of the crops is a strong argument in favour of its use But it is important to keep the balance of advantages and GLVDGYDQWDJHV DIIHFWLQJ RWKHU HOGV LQ this case the food sector At this stage of development the biofuel industry or science is still in its infancy Second generation biofuels produced from waste or alternative crops not being necessary for food production are predicted to have less impacts on the food sector According to the UN food access and availability have WR EH SULRULWLVHG DV ORQJ DV MXVW UVW generation biofuels exist Nowadays our food markets are interconnected and are mutually affecting each other which asks for global responsibility troubleshooting and research to improve the situation One example of an ongoing development could be taken out of the UAE even if biofuels do not play a big role in the fuel mixture yet The Masdar Institute in Abu Dhabi is currently working on the potential of biofuel use from algae which could be an alternative to the use of food crops The text is based on different reference sources Securing the future The last few years have seen several discussions surrounding the issues of climate change greenhouse gas emissions and dwindling resources Even though some countries are more affected than others there is no denying that these concerns have a serious global impact As a result environmentalists have started exploring viable alternative energy options such as the introduction of biofuels Editorial contributor Jan Drewitz weighs the pros and cons THE MOST OBVIOUS PROBLEM OF GROWING BIOFUEL CROPS ON FIELDS WHICH IS THE PREVAILING WAY TO PRODUCE BIOFUELS IS THAT IT REQUIRES LAND Focus Germany