Biofuel was a contentious issue at the Asia Clean Energy Forum 2008, but experts say that China is adamant that it has no plans to sacrifice food for fuel.
The reasons for the controversy are that while biofuel, produced from
agricultural harvest such as maize, palm oil and sugarcane is used to
run factories, power stations and vehicles, its development has led to
the global shortage of grain, which has led to sky-high food prices in
many countries including China. The Philippines for instance have seen
rice prices soar to USD1.4 per kilogram. Song Yanqin, a co-drafter of
China's national energy strategies is quoted as saying that "biofuel is
sensitive, especially in China, where 1.3 billion people live on only
120 million hectares of arable land.”
Energy experts say there can be a balance between biofuel and food
crops if government will strictly monitor land use for both however
some experts at the forum said that the issue of biofuel is a complex
one, that it will require further study and that it will not be solved
in a short period of time.
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Biofuel was a contentious issue at the Asia Clean Energy Forum 2008, but experts say that China is adamant that it has no plans to sacrifice food for fuel.
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