Table or Tank: The Rivalry between Biofuels, Fossil Fuels and Nutrition

Prof. Hans Werner Sinn, President of Ifo Institute for Economic Research, The DB Doran Lecture on Population, Resources and Development 4 May 2010 The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Faculty of Social Sciences, Is it really a wise and ethically acceptable strategy to burn food rather than eat it? This is one the key questions addressed by Prof. Hans Werner Sinn, President of the Ifo Institute for Economic Research, who spoke at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem on ‘Table or Tank: The Rivalry between Biofuels, Fossil Fuels and Nutrition’. Oil pressed from rapeseed can be used as diesel fuel, and maize or sugar beets can yield ethanol to replace gasoline. The UN and many countries officially share the view that bio-fuel is one option in fighting climate change. The Kyoto Protocol allows countries to meet their target reductions of CO2 emissions by substituting bio-fuels for fossil fuels. However, Prof. Sinn says, ”If we allow food to be used to produce bio-fuels, food prices will be linked to the oil price. Indeed, food prices are currently increasing in Europe, because more and more farmland is being used for bio-fuels instead of for food production. This is not sustainable” ”The problem is that advocates of reducing the greenhouse effect by promoting bio-fuels production have not made clear where the land will come from.” This, explains, Prof. Sinn, means that taking land for the production of bio-fuels from forests means speeding up global warming, because bio-fuel …