In 2008 worldwide food prices began to skyrocket, leading to mass protests and outbreaks of famine in developing countries. One catalyst for this crisis was the boom in biofuels, which led to over 30% of the U.S. corn crop being diverted to ethanol production. When corn is transformed into biofuel, it can deprive the human population of a food source (Figure 10.35). One United Nations official concerned with global food distribution called the situation a “crime against humanity.” Nevertheless, the production of ethanol from corn continued to increase, and by 2011, the share of the U.S. corn crop going into ethanol production rose to 40%. Such growth is fueled in the United States and elsewhere by governmental programs providing subsidies to farmers growing crops for ethanol production.

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Expanding production of corn and other biofuel crops around the world has the potential to cause environmental harm by increasing soil erosion, nutrient depletion of soils, nitrogen and phosphorus pollution of surface and groundwater, as well as herbicide and insecticide pollution. It also has the potential to reduce biodiversity, as lands set aside for conservation are converted to intense agriculture (Figure 10.36).

In Southeast Asia, plantations of palm oil, which is used for food and fuel, represent the number-one driver of forest loss. The Union of Concerned Scientists estimates that 300,000 hectares of tropical forest are cleared in Indonesia each year—an area about the size of the state of Delaware. The loss of forests there threatens the orangutan and other vertebrate animals, whose diversity has been reduced by over 60% in palm oil plantations.

In Brazil, large tracts of forest have been cleared for production of soybeans, much of which is used for biodiesel production. Recent analyses have also shown that biofuels indirectly lead to rain forest destruction. As old pastures are converted to biofuel production, ranchers end up clearing new forest for grazing lands.