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	View Edit Domain: BioEnergy Title: * Body: BRUSSELS, Belgium - Anti-poverty group Oxfam International on Tuesday urged the world`s poorest nations to think twice before jumping on a biofuel boom that could drive farmers off their land and hit food supplies.In a report, campaigners recommended that developing countries "move with extreme caution" before embarking on any broad push to increase output of energy crops such as palm oil.<br /><br />It said biofuel exports to Europe and the United States may be lucrative but the potential economic, social and environmental costs are "severe."<br /><br />Oxfam said governments need to set safeguards to make sure small farmers are not thrown off their land and that food crops continue to be grown.<br /><br />The report said Indonesia has seen sharp price rises for palm oil which local people use as a staple cooking oil as the government sets aside 40 percent of output for biofuel.<br /><br />It warned that this may worsen because both Indonesia and Malaysia want to produce more palm oil to supply a fifth of Europe`s future biofuel demand.<br /><br />Oxfam is calling on the European Union to scrap a target for biofuel to replace a tenth of transport fuel by 2020. It says the target will not fulfill Europe`s goal of either reducing greenhouse gas emissions or cutting its dependence on imported oil.<br /><br />"Biofuels currently provide a solution neither to the oil nor to the climate crisis, and are now contributing to a third: the food crisis," Oxfam spokesman Robert Bailey told reporters.<br /><br />The group claims that biofuels are partly responsible for hikes in food prices and are to blame for dragging some 30 million people worldwide into poverty.<br /><br />Europe appears to be rethinking its target. EU leaders last week called for a careful assessment of how using more biofuels might affect global food production.<br /><br />However, some voices see biofuels as a huge opportunity for developing countries.<br /><br />Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva says the biofuel boom creates a profitable export for energy crop producers in Africa, Central America and Caribbean that would allow them to claw their way out of poverty.<br /><br />Copyright © 2008 the International Herald Tribune All rights reserved<br /> Captcha: Please Enter Code : * Time Zone: * Select the time zone Vocabularies Newsletter: Domain: Show summary in full view Input format Filtered HTML Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically. Lines and paragraphs break automatically. Full HTML Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically. Lines and paragraphs break automatically. news_filter Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically. More information about formatting options			Related Articles Algae Producer Aquaviridis and OriginOil Announce Joint Comm... World Bank Issued an "F" USDA Allots 50M$ forAdvanced Biofuels USDA Announces Funding for Two Renewable Energy Programs EU Biofuels Targets to Cost $166 Billion, Study Says John Lindt: Biofuel maker to double employees Unlocking Seaweed’s Next-Gen Crude: Sugar Energy beet project gets funds, aims for advanced biofuel st... Inaugural Sustainable Maritime Fuels Forum draws US, Austral... Germany advised not to import food for biofuel Top BioEnergy Articles

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