Missouri Classifieds

GasBuddy News Article

votes

Biofuel demand driving "land grab" in Africa: report

Reuters -- (Reuters) - Biofuel demand is driving a new "land grab" in Africa, with at least 5 million hectares (19,300 sq miles) acquired by foreign firms to grow crops in 11 countries, a study by an environmental group said on Monday.

The contracts by European and Asian companies for land to grow sugar cane, jatropha and palm oil to be turned into fuel will involve clearing forests and vegetation, taking land that could be used for food and creating conflicts with local communities, Friends of the Earth said in the study.

Proponents of biofuels argue they are renewable and can help fight climate change because the growing plants ingest as much carbon dioxide from the air as the fuels made from them emit when burned.

Critics say there is a risk of the crops infringing on land that could be u

Read the Full Article

Submitted Aug 30, 2010 By: creeklin

Back To News

Category: Daily News Article Discussions > Topics	Add to favorite topics

Author	Topic: Biofuel demand driving "land grab" in Africa: report	Post a Reply Back to Topics

REPLIES (newest first)

MAC48 All-Star Author Dallas Posts:728 Points:499,925 Joined:Dec 2006	Message Posted: Aug 30, 2010 11:40:19 PM Ignore MAC48 Report Abuse Land suitable for food production should only be used for food production period. Land not suitable for food production can be used for production of bio fuel feed stock IF this does not entail the net elimination of forest cover. This would mean that if you clear 1,000 acres of forest or jungle to plant bio fuel feed stock such as sugar cane, you must plant 1,000 acres in forest to keep the net acres of forest or jungle at a zero net change. If the bio fuel feed stock is necessary then the cost of replacing the cleared acres with new forest in another location is just part of the production cost of that feed stock.
MidNJ Champion Author New Jersey Posts:4,663 Points:743,495 Joined:Sep 2009	Message Posted: Aug 30, 2010 11:11:50 PM Ignore MidNJ Report Abuse I heard about blood diamonds, but blood "bio" is something new to me.
SpaceCowboy9 Veteran Author Raleigh Posts:409 Points:997,305 Joined:Sep 2005	Message Posted: Aug 30, 2010 12:48:08 PM Ignore SpaceCowboy9 Report Abuse Ahhh, another one of those unintended consequences of environmentalism run amuck. Don't doubt it: these folks won't be happy until we are all living in caves.
Jeff1944 Champion Author South Dakota Posts:3,116 Points:682,765 Joined:Jan 2010	Message Posted: Aug 30, 2010 11:38:32 AM Ignore Jeff1944 Report Abuse Is this where the greenies and the ethanol haters of America get together?
ncomet1 Champion Author Michigan Posts:1,289 Points:408,780 Joined:Nov 2009	Message Posted: Aug 30, 2010 11:33:10 AM Ignore ncomet1 Report Abuse Doesn't Africa have enough shortage of food without doing this?
Cakes77 Champion Author Harrisburg Posts:3,000 Points:1,234,990 Joined:Aug 2006	Message Posted: Aug 30, 2010 10:40:18 AM Ignore Cakes77 Report Abuse You HAVE to be kidding, giving up land from food- to "grow" fuel...in Africa! How many people there will starve as a result of this?
URKiddinMee Champion Author South Carolina Posts:1,068 Points:217,215 Joined:May 2008	Message Posted: Aug 30, 2010 9:26:13 AM Ignore URKiddinMee Report Abuse Africa has much more pressing issues than how much land is converted to growing fodder for biofuels. Like, quit KILLING one another for the sheer hell of it!
bluehawk43 All-Star Author Arkansas Posts:679 Points:503,890 Joined:May 2009	Message Posted: Aug 30, 2010 9:16:12 AM Ignore bluehawk43 Report Abuse Biofuels is not the way to go. Too much clearing of the carbon dioxide eating jungle.
realtorguzzler Champion Author Florida Posts:1,488 Points:259,210 Joined:Jun 2010	Message Posted: Aug 30, 2010 8:48:07 AM Ignore realtorguzzler Report Abuse What countries need, and so does Africa, is a good government. So far, there hasn't been a good government in African nations to plan its needs and future. A good government can sort out allocations for their development and advancement. Countries with good governments prosper, those with bad governments go down the drain.
CISA Champion Author Orange County Posts:4,461 Points:1,104,425 Joined:Dec 2006	Message Posted: Aug 30, 2010 8:40:46 AM Ignore CISA Report Abuse free(er) markets always trump NGO dictates or gov't mandates