Why use food for fuel?

07/20/22 • 29 min

Biofuels are a way to make our cars, lorries and even planes run on renewable fuel. They’re often made from food crops.

Globally 7% of cereal crops and 15% of vegetable oil crops are used to make biofuel – according to data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

As pressure on food prices and supply chains increase, some people are questioning why we turn food into fuel.

In this programme we’ll be looking at the history of biofuels, why food crops have been used, and what alternatives may exist. Joining us are Daniel Kammen, Professor of Energy at University of California, Berkeley, who is currently serving as a senior advisor for energy and innovation in the Biden administration in the United States; Bernardo Gradin, the founder and CEO of Gran Bio, a company that produces biofuel made from sugar cane waste in Brazil; and Sailaja Nori, Chief Scientific Officer at Sea6 Energy, a company investigating the possibilities of biofuel made from seaweed in India and Indonesia.

If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: [email protected]

Presented by Ruth Alexander.

Produced by Beatrice Pickup.

Additional reporting by Ashish Shama.

The deadline for nominations for the award referenced at the end of this podcast has been extended to 23:00 GMT on Thursday 18th August 2022. *Page updated 28 July 2022 due to entry window extension.

(Image: Field of rapeseed crops behind picture of fuel nozzle. Rapeseed image credit: BBC. Fuel nozzle credit: Matthew Fearn/PA)

Biofuels are a way to make our cars, lorries and even planes run on renewable fuel. They’re often made from food crops.

As pressure on food prices and supply chains increase, some people are questioning why we turn food into fuel.

If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: [email protected]

Presented by Ruth Alexander.

Produced by Beatrice Pickup.

Additional reporting by Ashish Shama.

The deadline for nominations for the award referenced at the end of this podcast has been extended to 23:00 GMT on Thursday 18th August 2022. *Page updated 28 July 2022 due to entry window extension.

(Image: Field of rapeseed crops behind picture of fuel nozzle. Rapeseed image credit: BBC. Fuel nozzle credit: Matthew Fearn/PA)

Previous Episode

In search of a food champion

From tackling poverty and hunger, to maggot farming, to harnessing the power of seaweed - since 2017, The Food Chain has been celebrating and rewarding innovation in food. This year, as part of the BBC Food and Farming Awards, we're looking for a new champion who is trying to change the way we deal with our food.

With the launch of our 2022 award, Ruth Alexander catches up with two previous winners, school meals project the Akshaya Patra Foundation, and Gabriella D’Cruz, marine conservationist, to find out how their work has progressed and how they are navigating huge global challenges like climate change, the Covid-19 pandemic and rising food prices.

Do you know a remarkable person aged 18-30 who’s challenging the way we think about food? Nominate them for our Global Youth Champion Award 2022.

Find out more and read our terms and privacy notice here: bbc.com/foodchain

The deadline for nominations has been extended to 23:00 GMT on Thursday, 18th August 2022. *Page updated 28 July 2022 due to entry window extension

If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: [email protected]

Picture: Woman holding a plant growing in soil (Credit: Getty/BBC)

Producer: Elisabeth Mahy

Next Episode

Fuelling a female footballer

Good quality nutrition is key to sporting success. But while plenty of research exists on the impact of nutrition on performance, most of it has been done on male athletes. That’s despite female athletes now making up nearly 50% of participants in professional sport.

In the case of female footballers, research shows they could be consuming only half the carbohydrates they need. Not eating enough – or under-fuelling – as it’s known in footballing circles – is thought to be endemic in the women’s game. Experts believe much of that is down to a lack of available information.

As the Women's Euros 2022 tournament raises the profile of women's football around the world, Ruth Alexander explores what it takes to fuel a female footballer and how focusing on the particular nutritional needs of sportswomen could make a huge difference to performance. She speaks to professional footballer, Ode Fulutudilu, a forward for the South Africa women’s national team, Aimee O’Keefe, performance nutritionist at Manchester United Women, Dr José Areta, lecturer in sports nutrition at Liverpool John Moore’s University in the UK, and Abbie Smith-Ryan, exercise physiologist and sports nutrition researcher at the University of North Carolina in the US.

If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: [email protected]

(Picture: Two women playing football in an arena. Credit: Getty Images/BBC)

Producer: Elisabeth Mahy

The deadline for nominations for the award referenced at the end of this podcast has been extended to 23:00 GMT on Thursday 18th August 2022. *Page updated 28 July 2022 due to entry window extension.