Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2-29-2012

Abstract

A worsening drought in South America has caused downward revisions to corn production estimates, while Brazil continues to struggle with a shortfall in last year's sugarcane crop. Last month, the new director of the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization criticized the United States for the use of corn to make biofuel, saying it raises prices for the cereal globally. Meanwhile, U.S. bio-technology company Bio Architecture Lab announced last month that it will open a pilot plant in Chile to develop biofuels from seaweed. What is the outlook for biofuels in Latin America given competing demand for food resources? Will non-food based biofuels emerge as a viable large scale alternative in the medium- to long-term? What steps should policymakers be taking to ensure both food and energy security?

Rights

Re-posted with permission from the publishers as a PDF document as part of an Institutional Repository collection to aggregate energy policy, regulation, dialogue and educational materials.

Language

English

Publisher

Inter-American Dialogue

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