Breaking the link between food and biofuels

A briefing from the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD) at Iowa State University seeks policy changes that "place a greater emphasis on food prices and greenhouse gas reductions," which would in turn encourage a "transition away from current feedstocks toward those that do not reduce our ability to produce food." The report offers two biomass options that can facilitate breaking the food and fuel link: (1) Capturing biomass that is currently treated as waste or is a co-product of existing production processes and (2) Growing biomass on land that is not suitable for food production or to grow the biomass without using land at all (algae, for example). The report also offers three policy options that would further encourage the use of non-food biomass:

• Placing a hard cap on ethanol made from corn and on biodiesel made from refined vegetable oil.
• Target tax credits and fuel standards depending on the impact each biofuel feedstock has on food prices.
• Fund further research programs for biofuel feedstocks.

The full briefing can be found here.