The headlong rush in many parts of the world to replace oil with biofuels (ethanol and biodiesel) illustrates how the best of intentions can run afoul of the law of unintended consequences. While positive effects have been elusive -- and, in fact, are unlikely with current policies -- starvation and malnourishment are becoming worse among the poorest of the poor.
The European Union has announced that it wants to replace 10 percent of its oil consumption with biofuels by 2020. President George W. Bush announced last year a goal of replacing 15 percent of domestic gasoline use with biofuels over the next 10 years, which would require almost a five-fold increase in mandatory biofuel use to about 35 billion gallons. In June 2007, the U.S. Senate pushed the target to 36 billion gallons by 2022, of which 15 billion are mandated to come from corn and 21 billion from other more advanced but largely unproven sources. China is aiming for 15 percent conversion to biofuels. ...
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