Count one up for the anti-biofuel side. According to Olivier de Schutter, the special commissioner in charge of Food Rights at the United Nations, so-called "green fuels" are a determinant factor in the world's food crisis. De Schutter believes that 100 million hectares (about 247 million acres) will be necessary to produce five percent of our fuel needs by 2015, something he considers simply impossible. He also said that American plans to produce 36 billion gallons of biofuels by 2022 and the EU's plans to add 10 percent biofuels are unrealistic. De Schutter's main argument is that if food markets see an unlimited opportunity for growth (via biofuels), they won't be able to regulate themselves, and trying to stop this perspective can hamper speculative movements.

[Source: Libération]

LC Biofuels is trying to explain why its biodiesel is not getting any cheaper. According to the Biodiesel Blog, the company has sent out a letter that describes how the ever-increasing price of raw materials and diesel fuel seriously impact its biodiesel prices. The weak dollar - which makes it more lucrative for soybean producers to sell their product to China - also plays a role.

Feedstock prices are set, mostly, by the Chicago Board of Trade, the letter says, and because soybean prices have tripled over the past year, the price that LC Biofuels has to sell a gallon of biodiesel for to make money has climbed to about $6.25. Other biodiesel plants have stopped production (see here), but LC Biofuels is going to keep on trying to make fuel for the time being. Prices will be higher, but when costs come down - if costs come down - the pump will reflect the drop.

[Source: Biodiesel Blog]

Here's the deal: ethanol is not the only reason that the average price of a bowl of cereal and milk is moving from 44 cents last year to 49 cents this year to an expected 56 cents next year. But, as AP writer Lauren Villagran explains, a weak U.S. dollar, high fuel prices and China's growing economy don't hide the fact that the rapid increase in corn ethanol production is affecting people at the grocery store. And so, the "worst bout of food inflation since 1990" does have something to do with all those millions of gallons of etahnol. And are you ready for this tidbit: "China will import almost 50 percent of the world's oilseeds within a decade, becoming the world's largest importer, according to estimates from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development." That will affect food and biofuels, no doubt. The upshot of Villagran's article is that these prices are part of a complex, global issue. Will it follow that more people will demand high-efficiency, low-liquid-fuel-using cars pronto? Or will Americans just buy steak less often?

[Source: AP]