It seems that biofuels are falling out of favor as a "green" fuel. Land that was once used to grow food is now being used to grow biofuel crops. With the price of food rising and food riots being reported, that seems like a bad idea.
Also, if that was not enough:
A recent study found that growing crops to make biofuels may actually accelerate global warming, because clearing forests or grasslands gives off substantial amounts of carbon dioxide, the primary greenhouse gas that fuels climate change.
However, there may be some biofuel crops that don't require arable land. Jatropha is one that will grow "on marginal or degraded land where not much else will really grow." The plant is pictured above.
While jatropha is a "natural" plant, we may seem some "unnatural," or genetically modified plants, finally being accepted to solve the growing food problem: GM corn is being bought in Asia.
Genetically modified crops that are disease resistant or drought tolerant could provide an alternative to alleviate the global stress.
"I think it's pretty clear that price and supply concerns have people thinking a little bit differently today," Steve Mercer with the U.S. Wheat Associates told the Times.
The re-evaluation comes as riots were reported in bread lines in Egypt and other regions, European livestock face critical feed shortages and biofuels strain the market.
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