Report says there is enough biomass for biofuels without affecting food supply

In Germany, UFOP published a report on global biomass market supply for the purpose of biofuel production in relation to supply in the food and feedstuff markets saying that strong global harvest yields mean that supply on international markets is more than sufficient and is enough to meet worldwide demand, even if many parts of the world suffer from severe food shortages. The report says that around the world, hunger is caused principally by military conflicts, poor governance and extreme weather events, along with the reluctance of rich industrialized countries to provide effective food aid to combat the worst regional famines.

The 27-page UFOP report presents the supply situation in connection with development of renewable resources for transport biofuels. Particularly outside the European Union, utilization of biofuels is driven by quota provisions, as governments in Asia, North and South America have found, largely due to structural over-supply, that they must find high-capacity market outlets in order to have a positive impact on producer prices. As UFOP points out in the report, this is con-firmed by the precarious market situation for common wheat, with prices of c.150 EUR/ tonne. The energy value of one tonne of wheat corresponds to c. 400 l fuel oil or roughly 220 EUR/tonne, depending on the current price for fuel oil. “Combustion” would therefore make more economic sense than marketing the cereal for bread production, as UFOP calculations reveal.