Green energy, blue impacts, a report from the International Water Management Institute yesterday, says that plans to rapidly increase biofuel production in China and India threaten their ability to meet future food and feed needs. China plans to increase biofuel production fourfold, to 9% of its projected demand for petrol, by 2020. India aims to double the requirement for ethanol in petrol to 10% in the next year. Mainstream press bulletins cover that side of the report. But Scidev.net reveals that Chinese officials have countered and say that the IWMI report’s concerns have already been met, for example by a directive in May 2007 that bans the use of corn and by a shift to non-staple crops.
Just one little thing. Would someone at SciDev.net (or elsewhere) explain exactly what they mean when they describe batata as “a type of sweet potato”. And maybe the same person (or someone else) can explain how shifting the burden to non-staple crops, which the Chinese say they are doing, eases food shortages. Those crops use less water than corn, it is true, but they are edible too. Doesn’t that make them more valuable as food and feed?