Future food, fuel conflict can be avoided: USDA secretary

Reuters
Tue Dec 15, 2009 3:44pm EST

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - An increasing shift away from fossil fuels such as gasoline to alternatives derived from plants and waste need not produce an increase in food prices, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told Reuters.

Speaking on the sidelines of a U.N. climate conference in Copenhagen, Vilsack added he expected the U.S. Department of Agriculture to run a farm carbon offsetting scheme under a prospective U.S. climate law.

Farm crops such as corn are used to produce alternative transport fuels such as ethanol, while wood is likely to becoming more in demand for both solid biomass and liquid biofuels as new technologies emerge.

Read the full story