Does the increased use of bio-ethanol fuel really reduce food supplies?

Question

I am surprised at the lack of knowledge on the subject. I suspect the TV has been spewing out ant-ethanol c**p as of late, and everyone seems to be buying it up.

The truth is a bit more interesting.

Look guys, the US making ethanol from corn is NOT directly causing the increase in food prices in poor nations, because we had near record exports. Think about it for a second, if we increased the supply on the world market, how could that possibly cause people to starve?

Corn may not be the best agricultural product to convert to ethanol, but it does have some advantages, such as the waste product is still useable for the main reason corn was grown in the first place, to feed animals. Look up dried distillers grains, it is a traded commodity.

I know animals consumer more corn than humans, but again, we are not reducing the amount of corn available on the world market, we increased exports last year. So regardless of the diet of americans vs. mexicans, there was abundant supplies.

Answer 1

Yes, if the ethanol is based on things such as corn. Other sources of Bio-ethnol could keep food prices steady, such as Brazilian Sugar-cane and possibly Switch-grass. Corn however does cause decreasing Food supplies as corn is no longer being sold by farmers on the market. For your point about Animal feed, this may or may not be true, but meat has always been much more expensive than corn so that poorer people will be unable to buy their staple foods, even if meat becomes cheaper. The truth is that corn Ethanol is really more expensive, worse for the environment, and damaging food supplies, and the only reason it has been met with success is because of government Subsidies. Ethanol may or may not be the way to go, but current corn Ethanol is defiantly not the way.

Answer 2

Here's one study that says ethanol use does raise food prices:

http://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Financi...

I don't know about using byproduct as feed, but even if it is used, it's certainly not as nourishing as corn.

Answer 3

Yes of course. The same raw material is either used for food, or for bio fuels.

If you increase the quantity produced of one using the same fixed supply of the raw material, then you're reducing food supplies both directly and indirectly.  

Answer 4

Yes... unless the producers increase the supply. The problem with that is that increased production comes at a higher price as more pressuure is placed on production inputs (especially when inputs like fuel needed to farm are already increasing independent of farming itself)

While corn is not a staple of US diets, it is in other countries. Mexico has been hit hard by the increase  demand/increased price of corn. Food assistance programs like the UN's World Food Programme saw extremely large increases in the cost of providing food to the poor of the world.

It makes sense that US would have record crops... that is a reflection of the price that such products are getting (not to mention the subsidies provided by government). But those increased supplies at increased prices aren't helping a poor worker in Juarez, Mexico buy his corn bread.

So, to more precisely answer your question, while bio-ethanol demand does not decrease the production of crops (it should increase production), it can cause a price shift that can reduce the consumption of those particular crops in traditional food markets.

Peace

Answer 5

Strictly speaking because the US has a large supply of corn, it's use for bio ethanol would not in and of itself reduce food supplies. However there is a caveat the US rewards farmers via subsidies not to produce extra amounts, and there is a limit to how much corn could be exported to underdeveloped countries for food. In underdeveloped countries I would say that the use of bio ethanol could adversely impact on the food supply.