Biofuels ‘not driving up grain prices’

THE idea that the recent interest in biofuels is driving up grain prices has been refuted by European Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel.

Writing in her blog, she said this is not the case, and biofuels play a marginal role at most in the European Union context.

More significant by far have been low harvests in many regions of the world, bad weather in Europe and growing demand from East Asia.