Depending on who you talk to, a new law mandating biofuels be added to gasoline and diesel could be a boon to farmers and the environment or a blow to the global food supply and the environment.
Canadian Parliament has just passed legislation requiring that all gasoline sold in Canada contain five percent ethanol by 2010. The bill also requires that all diesel contain two percent biodiesel by 2012. The Senate is expected to approve the bill shortly.
Both ethanol and biodiesel are biofuels that can be created from plant materials like corn and sugarcane rather than petroleum.
Biofuels supporters are hailing the new law as a big step in the right direction, saying it will give underpaid farmers a much needed market for their grains while breaking the oil companies' monopoly on transportation fuel.
They also hail it as an environmental alternative claiming that biofuels such as ethanol and biodiesel create fewer greenhouse gas emissions.
And that's where the controversy comes in.
Environmentalists and food supply groups are denouncing biofuels as a threat to the global food supply, believing it does more harm than good to the environment.
They say the inputs needed to produce biofuels, also called agri-fuels, negate the environmental benefits. These inputs include fuel for farm vehicles, nitrogen fertizer — created using fossil fuels — and water.
They also object to the increased uses of genetically modified crops that will likely form the backbone of biofuels sources.
Biofuels opponents argue that the growing biofuels market will overwhelm the already strained global food supply, causing prices to rise further and putting the world's poorest people at risk of starvation.
"They are the ones who will suffer, always, when prices go up," said Cathleen Kneen with Food Secure Canada, an umbrella organization of food banks, farmers and other groups interested in a secure and just global food system.
Kneen described the new legislation as "disappointing," and "misguided" saying legislators haven't acknowledged science that shows biofuels are not an ecological alternative.
Kneen wouldn't say if biofuels were a better or worse alternative to petroleum fuels, but instead pointed to systemic problems both industries face.
"Whether one is worse than the other is the wrong question…the fact is we are running out of our capacity to maintain our industrial model."
Kneen said both models are unsustainable, and rather than moving from petroleum to biofuels, the world needs to make a fundamental change in the way it produces and transports goods.
"If we don't, then all indications are we are sunk," she said referring to the triad of social injustice, environmental degradation and climate change that could threaten global stability.
But for Canadian farmers and ethanol producers focused on the next season rather than the next decade, the legislation is a blessing that offers a new market full of potential.
Supporters of biofuels are quick to point out that it isn't only the farmers that benefit. Oil prices hitting $130 a barrel are being blamed for global inflation, causing both the price of food and fuel to skyrocket.
"It causes general inflation in the economy," said Robin Speer, vice president of the Canadian Renewable Fuels Association.
"We need to break the monopoly that oil has on transportation fuels." Speer blames speculation for driving up grain prices rather than competition between the food and fuel markets.
He points to a comment Achim Steiner, the head of the UN Environment Program made in April, blaming futures markets for distorting grain prices. Steiner said there was enough food on the planet to feed everyone.
Second generation biofuels using municipal waste and beetle-kill wood are expected to offer a more ecological source of biofuels in the coming years.
Montreal-based Enerkem Inc. has been researching how to make ethanol from municipal waste for 30 years and a spokesperson from the company said commercial production will begin soon.
Feeds