Biofuel is gold rush of the 21st century, says FAO

The worldwide upsurge of interest in biofuels can best be described as the “Gold Rush of the 21st Century”, said Food and Agriculture Organisation’s (FAO) deputy regional chief for Asia and the Pacific Hiroyuki Konuma.
He said that worldwide, about 14 million hectares or about one per cent of the world’s available arable land, were already used for biofuel production and this could rise to 3.5 per cent or higher in the near future.
“In this bioenergy rush, FAO is calling for policies that protect land, water and forest resources, promote socially acceptable land use, and guide bioenergy development in an equitable and sustainable direction,” he said, Kazinform cites Bernama.

FAO said this as key agriculture, environment and energy officials from Great Mekong Region (GMS) countries of Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam agreed after a two-day meeting here to initiate efforts that could dramatically change the
rural landscape in those countries in the near future.

It was organised by the FAO, Asian Development Bank (ADB), International Fund for Agricultural Development and several other agencies.

Although projections indicate that bioenergy produced from biomass could meet up to 25 per cent of global energy demand by 2050, the develoment and use of bioenergy has become an important international focus, generating enormous public interest and debate.

Such expansion would have serious implications for food production unless new and more efficient technologies are developed both in biofuel development and food production, said ADB director Urooj Malik.

Kazinform