The Wonder of Aussie Biofuel Investment

There's little doubt the mass development of bio-fuels - those energy sources derived from agricultural products such as soy, sugar and corn - has been one of the great scientific endeavours of the past couple of decades.

Faced with long-standing fossil fuel challenges such as diminishing supplies and environmental damage via greenhouse gas emissions, it's little wonder bio-fuels such as ethanol - a low-tech, rapidly renewable energy source cleverly described as "capturing sunshine" - is increasingly seen as a universal panacea.

But, like most modern "miracles", bio-fuels come at a great cost - one seemingly borne more heavily by a poorer, developing world than the richer West.

That cost is, of course, the rapidly rising price of basic food stuffs.

Mexico is prime example, where the cost of tortilla bread - a staple among the poor - has risen 60 per cent in just a few years. It seems the tab for the energy revolution is being picked up by those least able to afford it.

No-one is challenging the desirability of an energy-hungry West embracing an easily renewable and environmentally friendly fuel alternative.

Indeed, bio-fuel production is not only potentially "carbon neutral" but perhaps even "carbon negative", with increased plant matter naturally re-absorbing dangerous carbon emissions.

This is indeed an attractive proposition for an energy guzzling West that is, in U.S. President George W. Bush's words, "addicted to oil".

Perhaps it's time to pause the bio-fuel revolution just long enough to iron out the inequities between north and south, and to ensure that food or fuel are not humanity's only choices.

View the Couriermail story by clicking here.

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