Is there Room for a harmonious Relationship between Biofuel Production and Food Security?

In order to reduce dependency on fossil fuels and the emission of greenhouse gases, and to ensure energetic security, countries have emphasized the production of renewable biofuels. However, the exponentially increased production of biofuels has seriously impacted the prices of some agricultural com...

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Bibliographic Details
Author: Pereira, Wellington
Format: article
Status:Published version
Publication Date:2018
Country:Brasil
Institution:Instituto Paranaense de Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social (IPARDES)
Repository:Revista Paranaense de Desenvolvimento (Online)
Language:Portuguese
OAI Identifier:oai:ojs.ipardes.emnuvens.com.br:article/945
Online Access:https://ipardes.emnuvens.com.br/revistaparanaense/article/view/945
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Biofuels. Ethanol. Biomass. Food security. Agricultural commodities.
Biocombustibles. Etanol. Biomasa. Seguridad alimentaria. Commodities agrícolas.
Biocombustíveis. Etanol. Biomassa. Segurança alimentar. Commodities agrícolas.
Description
Summary:In order to reduce dependency on fossil fuels and the emission of greenhouse gases, and to ensure energetic security, countries have emphasized the production of renewable biofuels. However, the exponentially increased production of biofuels has seriously impacted the prices of some agricultural commodities, which renders food security a less attainable agenda given the dispute over allocating the same agricultural resources to the production of either food or biofuels. An alternative way of increasing the production of biofuels that would minimize conflicting uses of agricultural commodities is discussed here: the lignocellulosic biomass. We conclude that this represents for Brazil a valuable opportunity of increasing the production of second-generation ethanol without compromising food security.