Unilever boss says biofuels growth is putting pressure on land and food prices
Mon 23 April 2007
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The growth in biofuels production is putting pressure on land and pushing up food prices according to the managing director of the multinational food company Unilever. The company estimates that in 20 years time, 50% more land will be needed to feed the world's growing population.
Guenther Buck of Unilever warned at a European Parliament conference: "Land availability for both food and fuel is very questionable". He said that the rising trend towards using biofuel, including in the European Union, is putting the food industry on a collision course with the renewable energy industry over the future use of the world's limited farmland.
Mr Buck's comments came soon after the EU proposed that biofuels should constitute at least 10 percent of road transport fuels by 2020.
"Without agricultural intensification this will require an additional 2.5 billion hectares of land – as much as two thirds of the current forest area. And this is before biofuel production sets in," Mr Buck said, according to an article an EU Observer.
The price of rapeseed, which is used for both food and biofuel, has doubled since 2000 and the world's wheat stocks are at a very low level, according to the Mr Buck.
There have been a number of recent reports about the rising costs of foodstuffs also used to make fuel. In Mexico, there were protests about increasing tortilla prices - a staple food - said to be linked to rising use of maize in biofuel. (See LowCVP story link)
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