Bioenergy: Fuelling the food crisis? (BBC)

[eppur_se_muova]

By Stephanie Holmes
BBC News, Rome

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Yet the exact ranking of responsibility for the food price rises which have caused political unrest in 30 countries and plunged many into hunger is hotly disputed.

No-one denies that biofuels have a role, but the figures on the sector's inflationary pressure vary wildly from just 3% to 30%.
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He says Brazilian-produced ethanol, generated from sugarcane, emits between 80%-90% less carbon than petrol.

"But corn in the US is a different commodity, produced in a system that uses more fuel and fertiliser. Finally, when the crop is converted, lots of the energy comes from fossil fuels. Corn-based ethanol still does reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but only by 10%-30% less than fossil fuels."
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The US continues to heavily sustain its corn-for-ethanol industry, paying out 50 cents a gallon for each of its 27 billion litres of ethanol produced.
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more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7435439.stm

Read the whole article -- there's more of an attempt at balance than most articles in the US press, although it's actually a short article by BBC standards.