Does biofuel production threaten food security?

The global transition to a cleaner energy matrix, with fewer greenhouse gas emissions, has accelerated, at a time when global food prices remain high. Energy security e alimentar These are increasingly delicate and strategic issues in the global geopolitical context and, in this context, the debate known in scientific literature as “food vs fuel” returns to the surface, which precisely opposes these two aspects.

In the mid-2000s, the biofuels gained momentum as a viable and simple alternative for reducing emissions; several countries set targets for expanding their use. However, questions arose, the first regarding the availability of productive land being a limiting factor. The second was regarding the growth in the use of agricultural products for energy purposes being a threat to food supply and even to forest preservation.

Doubts at the time focused mainly on the American ethanol program, produced primarily from corn, suggesting that increased demand for the grain would raise the costs of producing derived foods — the world was also experiencing a period known as the “commodities boom,” when the prices of agricultural products rose sharply in the face of high Chinese demand, driven by that country’s rapid development.

However, several studies subsequently published in the scientific literature (see recommended literature) have shown that this impact was quite limited. Although some competition for land is recognized in many studies, results began to consider the positive aspects of the interdependence between production for fuels and food, such as: increases in productivity that offset negative effects; generation of income and employment in underdeveloped regions resulting from the increased use of biofuels — increasing access to food in certain locations —; and even the possibility of using production residues as lower-cost fertilizers.

Therefore, the initial conclusions of direct effects on food production and prices originating from the growth of biofuels were considered quite simplistic at that time, especially when cases such as Brazil were evaluated, where the predominant production of bioenergy It came from sugarcane ethanol, which is much more efficient compared to corn.

Amid rising food prices caused by imbalances in global production chains, due to inflation in agricultural commodities that began in 2020 with the pandemic and the war between Russia and Ukraine, the role and importance of bioenergy in the energy transition is once again being discussed. According to data from the International Energy Agency, global demand for biofuels is expected to grow by around 2022% between 2027 and 20, and alternatives under study, such as green hydrogen, could boost the energy use of agricultural products. In this context, could competition for land use have any effect on food prices and global food security?

Firstly, it is important to highlight that, over the last few decades, there have been major technological advances in both bioenergy generation and agricultural production. There is a better use of agricultural raw materials, including production residues, which significantly increases the potential for energy conversion — in this case, there is the lignocellulosic ethanol, green biodiesel, and other more recent models of biomass conversion. In addition, in “on-farm” production, there are integrated energy and food systems (IFES), which consist of farms structured to intensify and integrate energy and food production, maximizing synergy in agricultural production and agroforestry systems.

In short, current technologies suggest significant growth in the use of bioenergy without significant pressure on food production. Especially in Brazil, there is a great possibility of extending the agricultural frontier into pasture areas. The growth in the use of bioenergy from agriculture also allows for greater income generation in rural areas, which generally lag behind in terms of socioeconomic indicators when compared to urban or industrial areas, contributing positively to food security in some regions (currently, the biggest problem with access to food is income, not low supply). Therefore, food and energy security can go hand in hand, and encouraging bioenergy does not necessarily establish an opposing relationship between these two important elements. 

References and Recommended Reading

Hoffmann, R. Food security and ethanol production in Brazil. Food and Nutrition Security, 13(2), 1-5, 2006.

Kovarsky, P. et al. How tropical countries can accelerate their role in the net zero economy. MIT Sloan Management Review, Q4(13), 50-57, 2022.

Chagas, ALS; Toneto-Junior, R. ; Azzoni, CR Will we have to trade energy for food? Analysis of the impact of the expansion of sugarcane production on the price of land and food. Economia (Brasília), 9, 39-61, 2022. 

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