Biofuels behind food price hikes: leaked World Bank report - Yahoo! Canada News

Biofuels have caused world food prices to increase by 75 percent, according to the findings of an unpublished World Bank report published in The Guardian newspaper on Friday

European and US drives for greater use of biofuels has had the biggest effect.

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Biofuels or Cheap Food: Do We Have to Choose? « Food Crisis

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Hi Kai, that's the truth. Around where I live, is mostly farmland. I've noticed over the past growing season or two, that now the farmers are planting mostly Corn crops, with a small scatterings of Wheat and Cotton crops. Cotton for years and years here, was King-and was mostly all you saw. Now, it's getting more difficult to spot the Cotton Crops (for those with an untrained eye-the only way to spot them is if you see the neon green Bolweevil Traps set in place) and you might get "lucky" if you actually spot a Soybean Crop.

Anyway, with fewer and fewer Cotton fields being planted-well-you know what that means >:-(( of course, higher prices for clothes etc. Their F****ng greed, has no bounds.

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Lost are only those, who abandon themselves) Hans-Ulrich Rudel.

Interesting video interview on corn ethanol by John Stossel

YouTube - Myth: Corn Ethanol is Great

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Best Regards,
JW

Don't "lump" corn-ethanol and bio-fuels into a one size fits all box. Using corn is not so good especially with fuel prices. At current levels of technology in the field. It takes fuel to grow fuel when you have to make many trips around the field. One for plow, plant, fertilizer, insecticide, herbicide, harvest.
There are crops like switch grass which are better suited for fuel, and need no pampering, are self sustaining, and will grow anywhere.
Don't go the route of "Industrial Hemp", and again make no distinction between a worthwhile crop that has a dozen uses, plants itself, outgrows weeds, and has little (if any) THC, and...... a dangerous narcotic plague that will steal your children and eat your face off (scared yet ?) "Ditch" is not "Maui Wowie" (ask any head).
But if it was legalized, it's seeds would fill a variety of oil needs, and cross pollinate any being grown here, and effectively make the DEA's only job the "Border", and "Imports".
Just don't overreact against bio-fuels, who knows..soon enough..you may be "cooking" them up yourself for you garden tiller, lawn mower, weed whacker, chain saw, auger, pumps, wench and other small motors.

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All opinions expressed here are those of "Little Green Men" and don't necessarily represent views, positions, policy, thoughts, actions, or anything else.

I don't know how it is in Europe but in the US, the price of diesel fuel is around a $1.00 a gallon more than gasoline prices. All food and goods are delivered by diesel trucks and they pass the extra fuel costs on to the buyers. Also many of the farmers tractors are diesel and they too pass on the extra cost of diesel fuel.
I don't know why diesel costs so much more now. It used to be cheaper than gasoline. In the winter they say the extra cost is due to increased demand for home heating oil but it is summer now.

I have been looking at buying a 2008 Civic Hybrid to drive. I looked at a Prius but found out that at low speeds they run on the electric motor only. That means no A/C and that will not work here in Texas ! Too many traffic jams in Austin Texas.

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Work Harder ! Millions on welfare are depending on you.

There thinking makes no sense as we all got to eat and any how it will take a pitch the size of Wembley stadium just to drive one car for a year and how many cars are there in the world?

Well we will be all starving but at least we can get from point A to point B in the next hundred years or so, glad I will not be around then.

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Regards, Richard

Are you sure about that with the Prius? My coworker has one and we ride in it to go to lunch. When you coast (AKA no accelerator) or go slower then 25MPH, engine switches over to the electric engine. We're down here in hot, humid Central FL and the AC is always on. Road to where we eat is all traffic lights and traffic, the AC remains at all times and does not turn off.

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Good point Richard

Reminds me of health insurance with no "Dental" coverage. They should just Flip-Flop that and make full Dental (even cosmetic) universally free, and health insurance your own deal.

At least we wont live ugly, and we'll look good in our Coffins !

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All opinions expressed here are those of "Little Green Men" and don't necessarily represent views, positions, policy, thoughts, actions, or anything else.

You are correct Mussolini, I did some more research into the Prius but I still bought a Civic. I will get it in August sometime. There is a very large back log of orders for the Civics.

Thank you for the correction !

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Work Harder ! Millions on welfare are depending on you.

One could put that a different way:
The hike in more conventional energy prices has caused a demand for alternatives such as biofuels which then causes the pressure on food space/prices.

You could then go further down the really interesting route and follow the reasons for that hike... probably best not though eh? Chickens and eggs being so bloody hard to pin down

Isn't it damned annoying how almost everything is a million more shades of complex grey than single issue groups and the 4th estate choose to present...

Cheers,
Adam.

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It's only the Internet.

Agreed, I don't think its the only reason but it a VERY big part of it.