In our zeal to embrace alternative sources of energy, including biofuels, let's keep in mind that there may be very real human costs. And not surprisingly those human costs will be felt by the most vulnerable. The most vulnerable often live in Africa. IRIN points out a recent report arguing:
The rush to produce biofuels, driven by the threat of global warming and higher oil prices, is exerting price pressure on staple foods in South Africa, according to a report by the Regional Hunger and Vulnerability Programme (RHVP), a nongovernmental organisation that highlights food security concerns.
My colleague Bill Hewitt at the FPA Climate Change Blog has a post with lots of great links in which he explores these same complexities. None of this is intended to disavow the importance of alternative fuel sources, but rather simply to explicate the realities that environmental change will not be easy and that the trickle down effect will deleteriously effect the most vulnerable in Africa and elsewhere.
