Food vs. Fuel: Battle of the corn

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee held a hearing on renewable fuels and their effect on food prices. The chairman of the Committee, Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), said that the U.S. must be mindful of any impacts of biofuel production. He said that between four and five percent of the 45 percent global increase in food prices in the last year was because of U.S. biofuels policy alone. Bingaman added that it is essential to ensure that U.S. biofuels policy does not harm the world’s poor.

Jack Huttner, Vice President of Biorefinery Business Development at Genencor, said that the biggest concern with the higher prices of fuel is how to meet energy needs and also produce enough food. Huttner said that a second generation of biofuels uses non-edible parts of corn, such as cobs and stalks, to make ethanol, which increases the amount of output per acre.

Jason Pyle, CEO of Sapphire Energy, presented a sample of a renewable gasoline made of algae. Pyle said that its production does not release carbon and does not involve agricultural lands or products. Pyle added that repealing the renewable fuel standards would inhibit innovations, such as the algae fuel, from helping to solve the energy crisis.