Search Results

We’ve all read that biofuels are driving up the price of [insert food here], from coffee to beer to meateven gummy bears, for heaven’s sake. Now that it’s gobble day, of course we have to blame ethanol for higher-priced turkeys. CNBC says Thanksgiving dinner will cost $5 more this year due to ethanol bumping up the price of corn (turkey feed), which accounts for 60 percent of the cost of the bird. The article quotes the head of California’s Poultry Federation, who says he knows of a large operation that has witnessed its corn feed bill jump by $100 million. Chew on that! turkey1.jpgcorn1.jpg

We’ve written plenty about the growing biofuel market and the rising concern over the sustainability of corn or wheat ethanol and soy biodiesel production. Here’s an A to Z of alternative materials and innovative processes that can turn that biomass into fuel. From milk-based ethanol, to termite intestines that help make biofuels, check out these 26 sources.

Apples: Fructose, the sugar found in apples and other fruit, can be converted into a fuel that contains more energy than ethanol, say scientists from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The fuel is called dimethylfuran or DMF, and it supposedly has a 40 percent greater energy density than ethanol.

Beer: Researchers at The University of Abertay Dundee’s School of Contemporary Sciences are investigating ways to turn waste residues from beer- and whiskey-making processes into biofuels. Meanwhile, the New Belgium Brewery in Fort Collins, Colo., teamed up with Solix Biofuels to make use of the waste CO2 from the booze.

Continue reading this storyContinue

Carnivores, take note: Meat is the latest food group that is falling victim to biofuel production. At least in the U.K. That’s after reports that food like corn, tortillas, and even gummy bears have been getting the pinch.

Already hurting from bird flu, floods, and foot-and-mouth disease, the UK agricultural sector is facing a near doubling in feed costs, according to a report by consulting firm Deloitte. And although bad weather in key grain-growing areas such as Canada has pressured supplies, there has been a concurrent rise in demand, notes the BBC, some of which can be traced back to the “…biofuel industry, which uses the grain to produce ethanol for cars.”

Continue reading this storyContinue

Not everyone is worrying over the effect of biofuels on the price of corn, tortillas, even gummy bears. A report from the Worldwatch Institute says that the rise in global agriculture prices from a biofuel boom could benefit many of the world’s rural poor.

The Institute says that farmers in developing nations have been hurt by U.S. and European subsidies to corn, cotton, and sugar crops, and argues that the rise in agriculture prices will help poor farmers get a “decent price.” The report also says that agriculture reforms to include sustainable practices and a concentration on non-food feedstock are needed to make sure that these benefits go to the rural poor.

“The question is not whether biofuels will play a major part in the global transportation fuel market, but when and at what price,” says Christopher Flavin, president of the Worldwatch Institute.

gummybears1.jpgHere’s the latest from the desk of the biofuels will threaten our food reports. German newspaper Spiegel Online is lamenting that “Germany’s beloved gummy bears,” are falling victim to rising prices as a result of biofuels. Poor lil buddies.

The article says prices of one of the main ingredients of gummy bears, glucose, rose by 30 percent in 2006. Gummy bear-maker Haribo is so concerned it is part of the “Netzwerk Lebensmittel-Forum” (“Food Forum Network”), which focuses on the dangers of the food vs biofuel debate.

The German company isn’t the only one worried about a food sticker shock. Companies have been concerned about the price of corn, popcorn, torillas, even beer. And last week the International Food Policy Research Institute said that inefficient production of biofuels could raise food prices by 80%.

 

Sign up for our daily email:

© 2010 The GigaOM Network. Marketing consulting by ACS. Design by RareEdge Design Group.

Email This Post
  or cancel