Feeding the world while preserving earth's liveability: the biofuel barrier

The two fastest-growing global uses of food crops are their conversion into biofuels and their use as livestock feeds. These trends are accelerating the risks of species extinctions, of agriculturally-driven climate change, and of agricultural water and air pollution. Biofuel production from food crops also directly decreases the availability of food for the world’s 700 million malnourished people, and may cause further harm to the world’s poor by impacting food prices.

Professor Tilman will discuss how, when both their direct and indirect environmental impacts are considered, most food-based biofuels cause more environmental harm than the petroleum fuels they replace. The solution to global food and environment problems is often thought to require the efficient closure of yield gaps, healthier diets, and input-efficient agriculture. To these must be added a fourth: the rapid elimination of crop-based biofuels.