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Hi, <br>
I'm glad you brought this up since the current conversation in
renewable fuels is baffling.<br>
<br>
TreeHugger.com, searching its archives since 2008, gives many big
frowny faces to biofuel production calling EU Biofuel targets
"unethical"
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.treehugger.com/files/2011/04/eu-biofuel-targets-unethical-says-bioethics-council.php">http://www.treehugger.com/files/2011/04/eu-biofuel-targets-unethical-says-bioethics-council.php</a>),
but championing 2011 Mexican algae-based biofuel producer, OriginOil,
which is slated to supply 1% of that nation's jet fuel by 2016. Hmm.<br>
<br>
Now the FAO, although it has asked developed countries to re-examine
their biofuels strategies -- which include large subsidies -- because
"these have diverted 120 million tonnes of cereals away from human
consumption to convert them to fuels," Diouf says that "Avoiding
another food crisis hinges on crop yields in the next harvest season,
as well as how economic growth impacts demand, But he also said rising
food prices and oil prices could have a detrimental effect on growth." <br>
<br>
The new FAO study 17 February 2011 - I think?
(<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/51165/icode/">http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/51165/icode/</a>) shows integrated
food and energy crops work for poor farmers. "'Farming systems that
combine food and energy crops present numerous
benefits to poor rural communities,' said Alexander Müller, FAO
Assistant Director-General for Natural Resources."<br>
<br>
Crop diversity = good, I would say. 120 million tonnes of cereal
diverted, though...that would be bad....Is biofuel production
jeopardizing pine nut production? I'd appreciate any tie-breaking
insight.<br>
Thanks very much,<br>
Liz <br>
<br>
"Producing food and energy side-by-side may offer one of the best
formulas for boosting countries' food and energy security while
simultaneously reducing poverty, according to a new FAO report."<br>
<br>
<br>
Penny's Pine Nuts wrote:
<blockquote cite="mid:BB75E8D2E9454EEDBEAB4357CB2019DF@GFTWPC"
type="cite">
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<div><font face="Arial" size="2">Friends and Foresters, PCA -</font></div>
<div> </div>
<div><font face="Arial" size="2"> I thought you might find this note
of interest as the food vrs. fuel is an issue in Nevada with our pine
nuts. I hope it is discussed at the Agroforestry confrence in Georgia.
</font></div>
<div> </div>
<div> </div>
<div
style="font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;">
<div><b>Subject:</b> [Biomass] FAO, World Bank, IMF,WTO call for end
to subsidies + mandates for biofuels</div>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div><br>
<blockquote type="cite">
<div>
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</div>
</div>
<div style="">This is quite amazing!<br>
<div><br>
<blockquote type="cite">
<div>
<div style="margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><font
class="Apple-style-span" color="#000000"><br>
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<div text="#663366" bgcolor="#ffffff"><b>Intergovernmental
organisations (including FAO, World Bank, IMF, WTO) call for end to
subsidies and mandates for biofuels on grounds of food security.</b><br>
<br>
See excerpt below, and page recommendation 6 (page 26) of this report: <a
moz-do-not-send="true" class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://ictsd.org/downloads/2011/05/finalg20report.pdf">http://ictsd.org/downloads/2011/05/finalg20report.pdf</a>
- ahead of G20 discussions in Paris in June.<br>
<br>
It's not been picked up up in media much (yet) - it's from a leak - but
given that it's from FAO, IFAD, IMF,OECD, UNCTAD, WFP, the World Bank,
the WTO, IFPRI; this is pretty significant!<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<blockquote type="cite"><small><b>Reducing policy conflicts
between food and fuel</b><br>
<br>
Between 2000 and 2009, global output of bio-ethanol quadrupled and
production of biodiesel increased tenfold; in OECD countries at least
this has been largely driven by government support policies.<br>
<br>
Moreover, trade restrictions by favouring domestic sources of raw
material for biofuels do not maximise expected environmental benefits.
Biofuels overall now account for a significant part of global use of a
number of crops. On average, in the 2007-09 period that share was 20%
in the case of sugar cane, 9% for both oilseeds and coarse grains
(although biofuel production from these crops generates byproducts that
are used as animal feed), and 4% for sugar beet.<br>
<br>
With such weights of biofuels supply-demand balance for the products
concerned, it is not surprising that world market prices products (and
their substitutes) are substantially higher than they would be if no
biofuels were Biofuels also influence products that do not play much of
a role as feedstocks, for example because of the close relations
between crops on both the demand side (because of substitutability
consumption) and the supply side (due to competition for land and other
inputs).<br>
<br>
At the international level, crop prices are increasingly related to oil
prices in a discrete manner determined by the level of biofuel
production costs. Increases in the price of oil enhance ethanol’s
competitiveness relative to petrol and strengthen its demand. Since
both energy and food/feed utilise the same input, for example grain or
sugarcane, increases in the production of ethanol reduce the supply of
food and result in increases in its price. This relationship between
the prices of oil, biofuels and crops arises due to the fact that, in
the short run, the supply of crops cannot be expanded to meet the
demand by both food and energy consumers.<br>
<br>
If oil prices are high and a crop’s value in the energy market exceeds
that in the food market, crops will be diverted to the production of
biofuels which will increase the price of food (up to the limit
determined by the capacity of conventional cars to use biofuels - in
the absence of flexfuel cars and a suitable distribution network).
Changes in the price of oil can be abrupt and may cause increased food
price volatility. Support to the biofuel industry also plays a role.
Subsidies to first-generation biofuel production lower biofuel
production costs and, therefore, increase the dependence of crop prices
on the price of oil. Such policies warrant reconsideration.<br>
<br>
<b>Recommendation 6</b><br>
</small>
<ul>
<li><small>G20 governments remove provisions of current
national policies that subsidize (or mandate) biofuels production or
consumption. At the same time, governments should:</small> </li>
<li><small>Open international markets so that renewable fuels
and feed stocks can be produced where it is economically,
environmentally and socially feasible to do so, and traded more freely.</small>
</li>
<li><small>Accelerate scientific research on alternative
paths to reduced carbon emissions and to improved sustainability and
energy security.</small> </li>
<li><small>Encourage more efficient energy use, including in
agriculture itself, without drawing on finite resources, including
those needed for food production.</small> </li>
</ul>
<small>Failing a removal of support, G20 governments should
develop contingency plans to adjust (at least temporarily) policies
that stimulate biofuel production or consumption (in particular
mandatory obligations) when global markets are under pressure and food
supplies are endangered.</small></blockquote>
<br>
Press release on ICTSD:<br>
<blockquote type="cite"><b>Leaked Report Urges G-20 Action on
Food Price Volatility</b><br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true" class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://ictsd.org/i/news/bridgesweekly/106224/">http://ictsd.org/i/news/bridgesweekly/106224/</a><br>
<p><small>A <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://ictsd.org/downloads/2011/05/finalg20report.pdf">leaked
report</a> by top international food security experts urges the Group
of 20 leading economies to tackle food price volatility by reforming
biofuel policies, curbing the use of agricultural export restrictions,
and rebuilding emergency food reserves.<br>
Senior agriculture ministry officials from G-20 governments are meeting
in Paris on 11-12 May to hammer out an action plan based on the
experts’ recommendations.</small></p>
<p><small>Absent from the expert report was a World Food
Programme proposal on an emergency reserve system. The new text does,
however, provide new advice on biofuel policy and an Agricultural
Market Information System (AMIS).</small></p>
<p><small>The report, a collaborative effort between ten
international organisations working on food, such as the UN Food and
Agriculture Organization and the Organization for Economic Cooperation
and Development, has changed little since its previous <a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://ictsd.org/i/news/bridgesweekly/103198/">draft version</a>,
though some described the analysis as more “nuanced.”</small></p>
<p><small>Representatives from civil society groups are
expected to air their concerns in a 45 minute meeting on Thursday with
the G-20 agriculture ‘sherpas’ who have been nominated by agriculture
ministers to attend the meeting. These representatives will draft an
action plan that agriculture ministers from the G20 will agree to at
their first ever meeting on 22-23 June.</small></p>
<p><small><strong>Doha agreement, constraints on export
restrictions targeted</strong></small></p>
<p><small>The document recommends that the G-20 lead efforts to
concluse the Doha Round as a step towards improved trade policy and
less price volatility. Sources close to the report told Bridges that
any discussion of a “<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://ictsd.org/i/news/bridgesweekly/105615/">Plan B</a>” for
Doha has been off the table in the group’s discussions. Both the
experts advising the group and the representatives of governments have
refrained from discussing any alternatives to Doha while attempts to
resuscitate it continue.</small></p>
<p><small>As in previous drafts, the experts call for a clearer
definition of a “critical food shortage,” and other conditions that
allow WTO members to limit exports under international trade law. They
also urge a focus on the particular needs of least developed and net
food importing countries. At the WTO, a recent <a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://ictsd.org/i/news/bridgesweekly/103579/">proposal</a> by
net-food importing developing countries called for some strictures on
the use of export restrictions to be part of a Doha Round accord.</small></p>
<p><small>Export restrictions may once again come under the
spotlight since the Financial Times reported that Glencore, a Swiss
agricultural commodity firm, made bets that Russian wheat prices would
surge ahead of a ban in 2010 on sales to buyers abroad. Representatives
of the firm had publicly called for such a ban.</small></p>
<p><small>A delegate from a G-20 country in Geneva told Bridges
that some states with export interests seemed reluctant to accept the
notion of limiting the ability of countries to block exports. At least
two members of the G-20, Russia and Argentina, have instituted export
restricting measures such as taxes or bans in the past year.</small></p>
<p><small><strong>Biofuels</strong></small></p>
<p><small>Noting that biofuel policies may have played a role
in sustaining high prices for corn, with spillover effects into other
commodities, the authors urged G20 members to be flexible when
providing incentives for fuels derived from food crops.</small></p>
<p><small>Those participating in the inter-agency meetings saw
familiar wrangling on approaches to solutions, for example, with the
OECD viewing government intervention cautiously and the FAO finding
possibly constructive roles for it.</small></p>
<p><small>The report’s recommendations on biofuels say that
ideally, governments would eliminate trade restrictions on biofuels and
their feedstock, as well as blending mandates and subsidies. With an
eye to political palatability, however, the report instead suggests
that mandates be ‘automatically’ relaxed or eliminated based on changes
in an observable measure such as prices or short term inventory
forecasts. Given that such changes might prove costly for biofuel
producers and prompt demands for compensation from their governments,
the experts suggest a variety of options such as promises to buy output
from producers in times of crisis.</small></p>
<p><small>In their most radical departure from the status quo,
the experts, many of them economists, envision an open market in
renewable fuels, food stocks and food-feed commodities as alternatives.
Stressing the need to ensure economically, socially and environmentally
sustainable use of resources, they foresee an expanded role for
‘second-generation’ and newer types of biofuels, which do not come from
food crops.</small></p>
<p><small><strong>Emergency reserves</strong></small></p>
<p><small>The agencies preparing the report had requested a
detailed proposal from the World Food Programme for a “cost-effective
system of small, strategically positioned emergency food reserves by
the end of 2011.” Sources report that the WFP was unable to deliver
this in a timely manner. The Programme did, however, hold consultations
with academics, representatives of other international agencies and
civil society to hash out what such reserves would look like.</small></p>
<p><small>The interagency report cites the huge costs and
potential inefficiencies of international physical or virtual reserves
as reasons to not endorse their impelmentation. However, the report
doesn’t suggest that individual countries be prohibited from building
such reserves.</small></p>
<p><small>An observer participating in the WFP consultations
said that the Programme’s proposal was reaching beyond mere food aid.
Describing the proposal as “pre-positioned food aid plus,” meaning that
it could do more than simply provide emergency stocks held in
anticipation of need in a given country, the source believed that the
mechanism would allow national governments to smooth import flows in
times of disruptions and price spikes on international markets.
According to the source, the proposal would use a combination of
physical and virtual in-country stocks to “overcome break downs in
international markets” lasting from 30 to 90 days.</small></p>
<p><small>Since much of the funding for the WFP’s working is
earmarked for aid to specific countries or for a given crop, some
observers have pointed to situations where the agency’s ability to
respond to distress calls has been limited. They argue that a system of
reserves, even at the national level, would allow the WFP a greater
degree of flexibility in preventing extreme hunger. Critics reportedly
fear that such a system could potentially expand the role of the WFP
and create an implicit international food reserve. To date, no such
proposal has made it into formal circulation amongst the G-20.</small></p>
<p><small>The WFP is expected to present a revised proposal
directly to the G-20 ahead of the agriculture ministers meeting in June
but after consulting with other international organisations.</small></p>
</blockquote>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
-------- Original Message --------
<table class="moz-email-headers-table" border="0" cellpadding="0"
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<th align="right" nowrap="nowrap" valign="baseline">Subject:
</th>
<td>[T&E LowCarbonFuels] Digest for <a
moz-do-not-send="true" class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated"
href="mailto:te_lowcarbonfuels@googlegroups.com">te_lowcarbonfuels@googlegroups.com</a>
- 3 Messages in 1 Topic</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th align="right" nowrap="nowrap" valign="baseline">Date: </th>
<td>Sat, 14 May 2011 18:30:09 +0000</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th align="right" nowrap="nowrap" valign="baseline">From: </th>
<td><a moz-do-not-send="true"
class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated"
href="mailto:te_lowcarbonfuels+noreply@googlegroups.com">te_lowcarbonfuels+noreply@googlegroups.com</a></td>
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</th>
<td><a moz-do-not-send="true"
class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated"
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<th align="right" nowrap="nowrap" valign="baseline">To: </th>
<td>Digest Recipients <a moz-do-not-send="true"
class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E"
href="mailto:te_lowcarbonfuels+digest@googlegroups.com"><te_lowcarbonfuels+digest@googlegroups.com></a></td>
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<br>
<div
style="border-top: 1px solid rgb(119, 153, 221); padding: 2px; background-color: rgb(232, 238, 247); font-family: helvetica; font-size: 140%;"> Topic:
<a
href="http://groups.google.com/group/te_lowcarbonfuels/t/9e755c796995afb3"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">IGO-10 report to the G-20 calls
for end to subsidies or mandates for biofuels</a></div>
<ul>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Ronald STEENBLIK <a
moz-do-not-send="true" class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E"
href="mailto:ronald.steenblik@gmail.com"><ronald.steenblik@gmail.com></a></span>
May 13 06:47PM +0200 <a href="#digest_top" moz-do-not-send="true">^</a><br>
<br>
In unusually clear and blunt language, a report prepared by 10<br>
inter-govermental organizations (FAO, IFAD, IMF,OECD, UNCTAD, WFP, the
World<br>
Bank, the WTO, IFPRI and the UN HLTF) on "Price Volatility in Food and<br>
Agricultural Markets", leaked by the ICTSD<br>
<br>
<a href="http://ictsd.org/downloads/2011/05/finalg20report.pdf"
moz-do-not-send="true">http://ictsd.org/downloads/2011/05/finalg20report.pdf</a><br>
<br>
Says in Recommendation 6:<br>
<br>
"G20 governments remove provisions of current national policies that<br>
subsidize (or mandate) biofuels production or<br>
consumption. At the same time, governments should:<br>
<br>
� Open international markets so that renewable fuels and feed stocks
can be<br>
produced where it is economically,<br>
environmentally and socially feasible to do so, and traded more freely.<br>
<br>
� Accelerate scientific research on alternative paths to reduced carbon<br>
emissions and to improved sustainability<br>
and energy security.<br>
<br>
� Encourage more efficient energy use, including in agriculture itself,<br>
without drawing on finite resources,<br>
including those needed for food production."<br>
<br>
However, it does provide an "out" in the inevitable (and, in my opinion,<br>
likely) case that G-20 governments don't remove support:<br>
<br>
"Failing a removal of support, G20 governments should develop
contingency<br>
plans to adjust (at least temporarily) policies that stimulate biofuel<br>
production or consumption (in particular mandatory obligations) when
global<br>
markets are under pressure and food supplies are endangered."<br>
<br>
Still, even to say that is a BIG advance in thinking, in my opinion.
Note,<br>
the International Energy Agency was not one of the IGO-10.<br>
<br>
Ronald<br>
<br>
</ul>
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