Biofuels and the Food Supply

CNET News' Green Tech Blog reports on research by clean-energy research firm New Energy Finance that says that oil prices have a bigger impact on food prices than biofuels. And I believe it.

The report also states that changing food patterns around the world (i.e., rising middle classes consuming more meat and less grain), growin gpopulation, rising input costs are impacting food prices.

The report stated that

In grains, during the period from 2004 to April 2008, global dollar prices increased by an average of 168 percent. The rising price of oil accounts for an increase of 32.5 percent and other inputs--such as land and labor costs--contributed 7.4 percent. Dollar depreciation accounts for a further 17.9 percent. Supply and demand imbalances account for the remaining 57.7 percent, with biofuels responsible for up to an 8.1 percent increase in global average grain prices (the impact on U.S. corn was clearly above average). The biggest issues were the failure to improve yields to compensate for global population growth, along with the failure of the Australian harvest.

Biofuels may not be the main culprit in food prices, but given that they will have little or no effect on oil prices they appear to be a waste of resources that could be better spent on something with a greater likelihood of success.