Biofuels: Myths of the Agro-fuels Transition

Eric Holt-Giménez | 07.01.2007

Food First Backgrounder, Summer 2007, Vol. 13, No. 2

Biofuels invoke an image of renewable abundance that allows industry, politicians, the World Bank, the UN, and even the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to present fuel from corn, sugarcane, soy and other crops as a smooth transition from peak oil to a renewable fuel economy. Myths of abundance divert attention away from powerful economic interests that benefit from this biofuels transition, avoiding discussion of the growing price that citizens of the Global South are beginning to pay to maintain the consumptive oil-based lifestyle of the North. Biofuels mania obscures the profound consequences of the industrial transformation of our food and fuel systems—The Agro-fuels Transition.

The Agro-fuels Boom

Industrialized countries have unleashed an “agro-fuels boom” by mandating ambitious renewable fuel targets. Renewable fuels are to provide 5.75% of Europe’s transport fuel by 2010, and 10% by 2020. The U.S. goal is 35 billion gallons a year. These targets far exceed the agricultural capacities of the industrial North. Europe would need to plant 70% of its farmland to fuel. The U.S.’s entire corn and soy harvest would need to be processed as ethanol and bio-diesel. Northern countries expect the Global South to meet their fuel needs, and southern governments appear eager to oblige. Indonesia and Malaysia are rapidly cutting down forests to expand oil-palm plantations targeted to supply up to 20% of the EU bio-diesel market. In Brazil—where fuel crops already occupy an area the size of Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and Great Britain combined—the government is planning a five-fold increase in sugar cane acreage with a goal of replacing 10% of the world’s gasoline by 2025.

The question is not whether ethanol and bio-diesel have a place in our future, but whether or not we allow a handful of global corporations to impoverish the planet and the majority of its people.

The rapid capitalization and concentration of power within the agro-fuels industry is breathtaking. From 2004 to 2007, venture capital investment in agro-fuels increased eightfold. Private investment is swamping public research institutions, as evidenced by BP’s recent award of half a billion dollars to the University of California. In open defiance of national anti-trust laws, giant oil, grain, auto and genetic engineering corporations are forming powerful partnerships: ADM with Monsanto; Chevron and Volkswagen; also BP with DuPont and Toyota. These corporations are consolidating research, production, processing, and distribution chains of our food and fuel system under one colossal, industrial roof.

Agro-fuel champions assure us that because fuel crops are renewable, they are environmentally friendly, can reduce global warming, and will foster rural development. But the tremendous market power of agro-fuel corporations, coupled with weak political will of governments to regulate their activities, is a recipe for environmental disaster and increasing hunger in the Global South. It’s time to examine the myths fueling this agro-fuel boom—before it’s too late.