Should We be Concerned about Competition between Food and Fuel?

The document examines the 'food versus fuel' debate, specifically analyzing how consumption mandates like the US Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) and the EU Renewable Energy Directive (RED) impact food prices. It notes that while intergovernmental organizations disagree on the exact percentage of price increases attributable to biofuels (ranging from 5% to 75%), there is a consensus that they play a role. The brief argues that the rigidity of these mandates and the rapid increase in production exacerbate price volatility. It recommends reducing the rigidity of consumption targets and implementing robust reporting requirements on the use of food crops as feedstocks.

• Intergovernmental organizations provide widely divergent estimates on the role of biofuels in the 2006–2008 food price spikes, with the World Bank attributing 70–75 per cent of the increase to biofuels, while the OECD estimates it at 5–16 per cent.
• The United States and the European Union are the dominant drivers of global biofuel demand, together accounting for 62 per cent of global biofuel consumption as of 2010.
• Modelling suggests that biofuel programs in the EU and US will increase real world prices for vegetable oils by over 30 per cent and for wheat and corn by between 3 and 15 per cent between 2011 and 2016.
• Global biofuel production saw a nearly six-fold increase between 2000 and 2009, rising from 0.19 million to 1.1 million barrels per day, which may have eroded food inventories and increased price volatility.
• Biofuel consumption mandates create market conflict because the targets are fixed and non-responsive to price signals or production fluctuations, while agricultural supply cannot respond quickly due to natural crop production and harvesting cycles.
• To mitigate negative impacts on food prices, the brief recommends adjusting mandated targets downward in response to forecasted supply shortfalls and utilizing the reporting mechanisms in the EU's Renewable Energy Directive to track the impact of food crop feedstocks on prices.

APA

Charles, C. (2012). Should We be Concerned about Competition between Food and Fuel? International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/gsi/sites/default/files/pb13_foodfuel.pdf

Chicago

Charles, Chris. Should We be Concerned about Competition between Food and Fuel? International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2012. https://www.iisd.org/gsi/sites/default/files/pb13_foodfuel.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Charles |first1=Chris |title=Should We be Concerned about Competition between Food and Fuel? |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=April 2012 |url=https://www.iisd.org/gsi/sites/default/files/pb13_foodfuel.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{charles2012should, author = {Charles, Chris}, title = {{Should We be Concerned about Competition between Food and Fuel?}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2012}, month = apr, url = {https://www.iisd.org/gsi/sites/default/files/pb13_foodfuel.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }