US to proceed with production of biofuels despite global food crisis

Campaigners call to prioritise grain for human consumption over its use as a fuel

The US will press ahead with biofuels production, the deputy secretary for agriculture has said, despite increasing concerns over a global food crisis, and calls from campaigners to prioritise grain for human consumption over its use as a fuel.

Jewel Bronaugh, the deputy secretary of agriculture, said US farmers could continue to produce biofuels without harming food production. “We are keeping food security top of mind, but at the same time we also want to remain steadfast in the support and promotion of biofuel,” she told journalists in London, where she met the UK government to discuss a possible trade deal and cooperation on food issues.

She said biofuels could help to reduce the need for fossil fuels, and thus help to tackle the climate crisis, and were important in keeping down the price of fossil fuels. “We know they [biofuels] have a significant positive impact, not only on climate change, but on the affordability of gas [petrol], which is very important for the world economy,” she said.

“There are also opportunities for increasing jobs – a lot of significant benefits there, which we feel are important. We will continue to promote biofuels as a sustainable fuel, especially at a time when gas prices are so high,” she added.

The US has for years been the world’s biggest producer of ethanol for use as a transport fuel, usually blended with petrol and distilled from maize, and one of the biggest producers of biodiesel, from oils including soya.

Joe Biden is facing a tough set of mid-term elections for the US Congress this autumn. The rising cost of living, higher fuel prices and concerns over the economy are causing his team disquiet as they try to avoid a pummelling in the polls.

Many US farmers benefit from biofuel production, which offers them an increased market for their corn and oil. Removing or reducing that market would be highly controversial in many key farming states.

Bronaugh said US farmers were efficient and could produce both food and fuel. “We feel like our farmers are efficient enough to produce corn for food and corn to turn to ethanol. We are doing everything we can do to promote the highest productivity,” she said.

Bronaugh’s robust defence of biofuels came as experts and green campaigners raised the alarm over the diversion of food resources into fuel capacity at a time when many developing countries are facing widespread hunger, and in developed countries food prices are rising sharply. The causes of the food price rises are complex, including the depletion of reserves during the pandemic, rising fuel costs as a result of the Ukraine war, and the impact of extreme weather, driven by the climate crisis.

But biofuels are also having an impact, according to two studies published this week. One, by the Transport and Environment campaign group, found that the EU and the UK were pouring 19m bottles of cooking oil into petrol engines each day, despite severe constraints on production owing to the Ukraine war.

The other, by the Green Alliance thinktank, found that if the land abroad used to grow bioethanol for use in the UK alone were given over to food crops instead, an extra 3.5 million people a year could be fed, lowering the impact on undernourishment caused by the Ukraine war by about 25%-40%.

Sign up to First Edition, our free daily newsletter – every weekday morning at 7am BST

The UK government is understood to be considering reducing the mixing of biofuel with fossil fuel in response to the global food price rise.

Bronaugh also said she had met George Eustice, the UK environment secretary, to discuss post-Brexit trade. She confirmed that Eustice had proposed that US farmers could adhere to voluntary standards on animal welfare as a way of smoothing the path to imports of US farm products to the UK.

However, she insisted that US standards of animal welfare and farm products were already high, and not in need of improvement. “We feel very strongly about our standards, but are always willing to talk and to hear ideas,” she said.

Contributor

Fiona Harvey Environment correspondent

The GuardianTramp

Related Content

Letters: Biofuels threaten food production
Letters: Your interview with Peter Kendall, president of the National Farmers' Union, raised interesting points on the challenge of feeding a growing population

30, Jul, 2013 @7:59 PM

Letters: Biofuels and the crisis in global food production
Letters: Simplistic calls for the removal of existing biofuels targets threaten to remove any stability and certainty within the market

16, Aug, 2012 @8:00 PM

Article image
Rising wheat prices raise fears over UK commitment to biofuels

Converting up to a fifth of UK wheat into biofuel will force prices even higher at a time of food shortages, warn critics

Jamie Doward

04, Sep, 2010 @11:07 PM

Article image
The era of cheap food may be over

A spike in prices caused by poor harvests and rising demand is an apt moment for the west to reassess the wisdom of biofuels

Larry Elliott, economics editor

02, Sep, 2012 @11:39 AM

Article image
Can lab-grown food save the planet? | Letters
Letters: Daniel Pryor of the Adam Smith Institute, David E Hanke, Georgina Ferry and Prof Mick Watson respond to an article by George Monbiot claiming that lab-grown food will end farming and save the planet

Letters

09, Jan, 2020 @7:14 PM

Article image
US agency sets sights on grass in bid to make a better biofuel
Arpa-E project deploys drones and robots to breed fast-growing, drought-resistant and greener biofuel from sorghum which could replace corn ethanol

Suzanne Goldenberg

16, Mar, 2016 @12:08 PM

Jay Rayner: The future of food is not on the farm

Jay Rayner: Thanet Earth will be the largest greenhouse development ever seen in Britain, covering an area equivalent to 80 football pitches

Jay Rayner

21, Jun, 2008 @11:01 PM

Article image
Kate Humble: aquaponics is the answer to our growing food crisis
The Springwatch presenter explains to Lucy Siegle the anger that motivated her to build the UK's first aquaponic greenhouse on her farm – a closed-loop system producing food in a small space

Lucy Siegle

03, Jul, 2014 @10:23 AM

Article image
US attacked at food summit over biofuels

Julian Borger: UN officials claim the alternative energy source is 'satisfying a thirst for fuel' at the expense of the hungry

Julian Borger in Rome

03, Jun, 2008 @11:01 PM

Article image
Biofuel demand in US driving higher food prices, says report
Government support for ethanol has led to an increase in corn production and a steep rise in soybean imports

Suzanne Goldenberg, US environment correspondent

19, Jul, 2011 @6:23 PM