Today in Biofuels Opinion: “So if you imagine a world with no ethanol, who’s to say food prices in developing countries might not be higher?”

Seeking alpha writes: “Drought in Australia cut global wheat production. Floods in Bangladesh affected rice. The world’s population is growing and demanding more and varied foodstuffs. Economic growth in countries such as China results in changing eating patterns. Traditional diets based on grain staples are expanding to include luxury items like beef and pork. …and then there is the ethanol and biofuel effect….the World Bank believes that biofuels are at least partially to blame for the world’s high food prices, and many others agree….If you just went by the headlines, you’d think that the solution to end world hunger is to stop making ethanol…a 2007 CARD study estimated that for every 30 percent increase in the price of corn, retail food prices increased by only about 1 percent….the WSJ reports on how biofuels are keeping oil and gas priced 15% lower than otherwise…So if you imagine a world with no ethanol, who’s to say food prices in developing countries might not be higher?”

The International Herald Tribune reports on a Friends of the Earth study: “Certification schemes being set up by South American countries to ensure sustainable production of sugar cane and soybean crops were not enough to prevent damage to the environment. It said such guarantees “fail to address the biggest problems” related with the expansion of cultivation of land currently covered by forests, or smaller farms.”