Biofuels are bad ... India

[Zkribbler]

Indian minister attacks biofuels

Greed is overtaking the common good of the world

Indian Finance Minister P Chidambaram has said that it is "outrageous" that developed countries are turning food crops into bio fuels. He said that countries like the US were doing so while the world's poor are struggling with surging food prices.

Delivering a lecture in Singapore, Mr Chidambaram said that using corn and other crops for fuel was a sign of "lopsided priorities".

He said that such an "uncaring" policy had to be strongly condemned.

The finance minister was also critical of "lax supervision", which he said had led to the US mortgage crisis and global economic uncertainty.

'Deprived of food'

Mr Chidambaram said developing economies were shouldering an "enormous burden" from the relentless rise in prices of food and commodities.

He said the situation was worsened by the diversion of food to produce bio fuels in some countries.

Citing the US as an example, he said nearly 20% of corn goes to making bio fuels.

Mr Chidambaram said there was now a climate of food insecurity

"It is a sign of the lopsided priorities of certain countries that they will resort to measures that will produce fuel at a cheaper cost in order to meet the transport requirements of a section of their population," Mr Chidambaram said.

He said the pursuit of such policies at a time when many in the world could barely afford to eat was "outrageous and... must be condemned".

Corn, soybeans, sugar cane and other crops are seen as sources of clean and cheap biofuels.

Correspondents say this results in less grain available for human consumption, which drives up the prices for basic foodstuffs.

The finance minister said that the prices of maize, rice and wheat have at least doubled between 2004 and last month, while commodities such as crude oil and metals have also spiralled in price.

He said that these rises were damaging for countries like India, which subsidises food and fuel.

Mr Chidambaram also said the rise in oil prices from about $30 a barrel in 2004 to above $100 this year is another example of "greed overtaking the common good of the world".

"Oil producing countries have struck a gold mine. Demand is very high... they think that this is a great time to reap in the profits," he said.

"I understand that from a commercial point of view, but it's hurting the world economy."

Isn't there supposed to be a cellulose-based biofuel plant down in Dixie somewhere? It uses gentically altered bacteria to turn stems, leaves, corn cobs, wood chips, and other biowastes into biofuels. Such a plant should make everyone happy.

[DanS]

I don't know why you're angry. His opinion can be held on principled grounds.

[chequita guevara]

food based fuels are bad for us too

[Zkribbler]

Originally posted by DanS
I don't know why you're angry. His opinion can be held on principled grounds.

I never said I was angry.

Using corn for biofuel is bad because Mexican farmers are replanting their cactus fields with higher-priced corn, leading to a shortage of taquila.

[Riesstiu IV]

Biofuels?! I got your biofuels right here, hippy! *throws puppy into incinerator*

[Dinner]

He has a point about the laxed supervision. Let's face it the no regulation philosophy of the ruling elites are what brought that bubble about. The steady weaking of credit standards starting in the 80's did spike the economy but eventually created a bubble which popped.

[Zkribbler]

Originally posted by Oerdin
He has a point about the lax supervision. Let's face it the no regulation philosophy of the ruling elites are what brought that bubble about.

Wha...?!? You mean unregulated corporations do not always work in the public's best interest?!

[Dinner]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara
food based fuels are bad for us too

It depends. If it's using something high in sugar then no biggie but it is ****** to try to turn corn into ethanol. Just not enough sugar and you end up using more fossil fuels to grow the corn then you ever off set with the small amount of ethanol produced. It's a net lose.

Of course producing bio fuels has never been what using corn to produce ethanol has been about nor even about reducing fossil fuel consumption. That police has always been about spiking corn prices for corporate farms.

[Dinner]

Originally posted by Zkribbler

Using corn for biofuel is bad because Mexican farmers are replanting their cactus fields with higher-priced corn, leading to a shortage of taquila.

All right. This type of **** has to stop NOW!

[Whoha]

If you yank out everything right now, you'll wipe that farmer out, and it will be even longer before tequila production is restored.

[Bosh]

A view from the future:

quote:
Indian minister attacks lack of biofuels

Greed is overtaking the common good of the world

Indian Finance Minister P Chidambaram has said that it is "outrageous" that developed countries are exporting so much of their food crops. He said that countries like the US were doing so while the world's poor are struggling with dropping farm prices.

Delivering a lecture in Singapore, Mr Chidambaram said that not using corn and other crops for fuel was a sign of "lopsided priorities".

He said that such an "uncaring" policy had to be strongly condemned.

The finance minister was also critical of "lax supervision", which he said had led to the US mortgage crisis and global economic uncertainty.

'Destruction of farmers'

Mr Chidambaram said developing economies were shouldering an "enormous burden" from the rising bankrupcy of third world farmers.

He said the situation was worsened by the diversion of food that had once been turned into biofuel to exports to third world markets.

Citing the US as an example, he said nearly 20% more corn was exported to India, with dire effects on the poorest rural areas of the country.

Mr Chidambaram said there was now a climate of economic collapse in the countryside.

"It is a sign of the lopsided priorities of certain countries that they will resort to measures that will suck the Earth's oil reserves dry in order to meet the transport requirements of a section of their population," Mr Chidambaram said.

He said the pursuit of such policies at a time when many in the world could barely make enough money to live "outrageous and... must be condemned".

Corn, soybeans, sugar cane and other crops are seen were once sources of clean and cheap biofuels.

Correspondents say this results in more grain available for human consumption, which lowers the prices that the poorest farmers can get for their crops.

The finance minister said that the prices of maize, rice and wheat have at least halved between 2008 and last month, while commodities such as crude oil and metals have also spiralled in price.

He said that these rises were damaging for countries like India, which includes millions of poor farmers who will soon be driven off the land by bankrupcy.

Mr Chidambaram also said the rise in oil prices from about $100 a barrel in 2008 to above $200 this year is another example of "the negative effects of the move away from biofuels."

"Oil producing countries have struck a gold mine. Demand is very high... they think that this is a great time to reap in the profits," he said.

"I understand that from a commercial point of view, but it's hurting the world economy."

[Wezil]

You just reposted the same article.

[Colonâ„¢]

I believe he changed a figure or two.

[Provost Harrison]

Fact is though, the Western nations do produce an excess of food, and it is impossible to ship it all without it perishing so it is wise to use it in this manner. However it is also important that we do find ways to ensure that the whole of the world is fed more evenly - irrigation programs, longer lasting crops and more hardy and higher yielding strains of crops for harsher conditions.

[RGBVideo]

D'uh. Supply and demand. Human population and uses for crops continues to increase while production stays stable. Logically, price gradually increases.

If crops such as grain truly are now overpriced, then obviously Indian government should seize this opportunity and start making gigantic profits by increasing the amount of crops such as rice grown by it.

It's really rather amusing to see how the Evil Person Who's To Blame continues to stay the same as the situation changes. When food crops were underpriced because of massive domestic subsidies by US and EU15 governments, The Man was to blame for oppressing developing countries because their farming industry was not profitable. Now that the international price is suddenly increasing because of new sources in demand, The Man is to blame for cruelly starving the helpless people in developing countries.

However it is also important that we do find ways to ensure that the whole of the world is fed more evenly

Yes, this is the standard textbook answer to the problem. Have you ever thought about what it actually says, though?

Who is "we". You? If it's the whole world, it's easy to agree but the statement is rather meaningless in it's obviousness. If it's "we in Europe and US", then you should understand that the only way for "us" to ensure in here that "proper" irrigation programs are used there and the local people use long-term crops, anti-erosion methods in farming and crop rotation is to occupy the country in question.

It's easy to construct vague promises about how it's "our" responsibility that other people tens of thousands of miles away are smart enough to farm properly and not to breed so much that their regional ecological carrying capacity is surpassed, resulting in massive desertification. It's next to impossible to ensure that other people are doing this in the way you want. Mass-education programs about proper farming techniques from developed to developing countries have now been in use for over 40 years. Two generations. Some countries and some invididuals understand and react, some do not.