Food security in the context of liquid biofuels production

Abstract

A crucial factor that determines the development of production and consumption markets for biofuels is the choice of raw materials that can ensure the highest possible production efficiency, the lowest cost and the smallest emission of harmful substances to the atmosphere during all production stages. Considerations underlying the development of biofuel production have been discussed as well as the theoretical mechanisms linking the generation of biofuels to the level of production and the variability of prices of agricultural raw products. The aim of this study has been to identify the scale at which energy raw materials originating from agriculture are used for liquid biofuels production and to explore their impact on food security. The study used public statistical data (OECD-FAO and IndexMundi). The time span of the analysis was from 2005 to 2018. First-generation biofuels based on food raw materials (cereal grains, root crops, sugarcane and vegetable oils) are becoming increasingly competitive with food production recent years have been a period of the dynamic growth in production of liquid biofuels. In 2018, the global production of these substances reached 167.9 billion litres (bioethanol and biodiesel together), consuming 16.1% of maize grain, 1.7% of wheat grain, 3.3% of grain of other feed grains and 13.5% of vegetable oil.