Let's Japan.org Debunking Eikaiwa and Ramblings in Japan

I know I've been harping on energy and cars lately, but this kind of "reporting" on TV [link to video and transcript in Japanese] has me scratching my head. This is a prime example of news dressed up as an advertisement or PR. The clip is about biofuels (bioethanol from sugar cane and other plants) becoming available to consumers in Yokohama and how it will help combat global warming. The biofuel goes on sale tomorrow at 50 gas stations with the goal of supplying biofuels nationwide by 2010.

The story doesn't mention what happens when you start growing food for fuel: Protests over rising food costs. The demand for corn to make ethanol in the United States caused the price of tortillas to rise in Mexico. On top of that, there's this problem:

GLOBAL grain yields must rise sharply over the next 50 years to avoidfood shortages as an increasingly rich population competes with biofuels for scarce resources, the head of the Scottish Agricultural College has said.

Despite growth in organic farming in some parts of Europe, Professor Bill McKelvey said that while such niche output had a role in the food supply, there was a need to intensify aspects of agriculture to avoid shortages in the future. He said growing affluence in countries like China and India as well as desertification due to climate change would increase strain on the world's ability to feed itself, but the most pressing threat came from the biofuel revolution.

When you start producing food for fuel instead of eating it, you have to make some hard choices. Do I want to eat or do I want to drive? Which is more important? The Nippon TV story only notes that the biofuel will be available at 50 gas stations. But what happens when Japanese motorists start demanding biofuels? What will they say when the increased demand for biofuels drives up the price of corn and soy and the price of food? Will consumers be willing to substitute food for fuel?

If we're going to adopt biofuels we need to make some significant changes in the way we live. PR pap like the stuff served up by NTV just reinforces the delusion that things will be OK as long technology progresses.

That's not to say that biofuels aren't a solution. They can be a solution but on a local scale. I don't see how this technology can be scaled to fuel the entire car and truck fleet of Japan without it affecting what we eat.