The rush into “biofuels” or “agrofuels” is being described as the green gold rush of the 21st century. From George W Bush to Lula da Silva, and from Manmohan Singh to Thao Mbeki, there are no dearth of supporters seeking a rapid shift to biofuels. It is billed as the final answer to the climatic ills that mankind created over the last 100 years. It is also claimed as the most sustainable and environment-enriching outcome.

The dramatic shift that is being talked about in various international capitals is already reflected in massive increases in investments as well as ambitious renewable-fuel targets in the Western hemisphere. Brussels, the headquarters for the European Union, has decided that biofuels provide 5.75 per cent of member states’ transport power by 2010 and 10 per cent by 2020. The US President Bush, recently signed an agreement with his Brazilian counterpart to commit the two countries for increasing their ethanol production.

US agenda
It is clear as daylight that President Bush wants to reduce the critical importance on oil from West Asia. Consequently, he wants to shift to agrofuels which are commonly referred to as biofuels. Besides, Lula, Manmohan Singh and Mbeki signed an agreement last month to advance the biofuel revolution. The agrofuels provide bioethanol and biodiesel from a variety of foods crops.

Bioethanol is derived from sweet and starchy crops, which can be fermented to produce alcohol (mostly sugarcane and maize, but also sugarbeet, potatoes, wheat or even manioc which is the staple food for many African nations). In contrast, biodiesel is produced from vegetable oils by reaction of the oil with methanol. The oils include soya or palm oil, rapeseed or peanut or coconut oil.

The moot question is the potential impact of the shift to agrofuels on the world’s food economy. Helped by agro-industrial corporations, countries all over the world, especially the farm powerhouses like Brazil, will shift overnight to biofuels to stay competitive in the global economy. Perhaps South America, which houses giant farm exporting countries like Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay among others, could become the West Asia of biofuels. So, the rush to “green gold” is justified on several counts.

But the dire consequences to the food economy of the world cannot be ignored because of the current green gold fever. In a world dominated by absolute hunger – 854 million people go to bed without a square meal in the day, and with more than 6 million dying from hunger and hunger-related causes before their fifth birthday – the shift towards a biofuels economy pose a grave threat.

Last week, the United Nations Special Rapporteur(expert) on right to food, Dr Jean Ziegler presented his report to the General Assembly on the state of world hunger. He said there is “potentially grave negative impact of biofuels (or agrofuels) on the right to food.” In a poignant report, he argued on the urgent need “to improve protection for people who are fleeing from hunger, famine and starvation in their countries of origin and face numerous human rights violations if they try to cross borders into developed countries.”

His core argument was that biofuels would pave the way to a hungry and malnourished world because it would  accelerate the rush to convert what are basically food crops- maize, wheat, sugar and palm oil- into fuels to address climate change.

Recipe for disaster
This is a recipe for disaster, he claimed, suggesting a battle between food and fuel that would leave the poor and hungry in developing countries at the mercy of rapidly rising prices for food, land and water. Consequently, if agro-industrial methods are pursued unabashedly to turn food into fuel, then there are risks of unemployment and violations of the right to food, Ziegler  warned.

Besides, the energy-intensive costs of generating biofuels require huge investments. In short, the world cannot turn a blind eye to the travails of daridra narayans for the sake of addressing the threat posed by carbon emissions. Governments will have to be doubly careful about initiatives to develop biofuels through converting food into fuels. Otherwise, the world might end up with hungry stomachs while creating a biofuel-driven environment.