Biofuel Demand Pushing Food Prices Higher In Japan As Well - Japan Times

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The increasing demand for biofuel, which is derived from biomass — usually plants — has taken a bite out of supplies of crops and other farm products worldwide. The redirection of crops from mouths to fuel tanks is reflected in the rise of prices of ordinary food items in Japan.

For the first time in 17 years, Q.P. Corp., Japan's biggest mayonnaise maker, will raise the price of its main product by about 10 percent, starting with Friday's shipment.

"It's because the price of the ingredients, mainly rapeseed and soybeans, rose," said Shunsuke Horiike, spokesman for Q.P., citing stronger demand in China. But he also blamed the price hike on biomass fuel. "Rapeseed oil is used for biodiesel in Europe," Horiike said. "In the United States, corn is used to produce ethanol, and because of that, soybean acreage has been decreased."

Many countries, including Japan, see biofuel, mainly ethanol, as an eco-friendly replacement for petroleum, but experts doubt it can be a sustainable alternative energy resource. Masatoshi Matsumura, a professor of life and environment sciences at the University of Tsukuba in Ibaraki Prefecture, said using food resources to produce biofuel is meaningless because it would cause unnecessary agricultural competition and lead to higher crop prices.

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