Serious problems face the world food supply today. The rapidly growing world pop­ulation and rising consumption of fossil fuels is increasing demand for both food and biofuels. This will exacerbate both food and fuel shortages. The human population faces serious food shortages and malnutrition (WHO 2005).

Producing biofuels requires huge amounts of both fossil energy and food re­sources, which will intensify conflicts among these resources. Using food crops such as corn grain to produce ethanol raises major nutritional and ethical concerns. Nearly 60% of humans in the world are currently malnourished, so the need for grains and other basic foods is critical (WHO 2005). Growing crops for fuel squan­ders land, water, and energy resources vital for the production of food for people.

Food versus fuel is the dilemma regarding the risk of diverting farmland or crops for liquid biofuel production to the detriment of the food supply on a global scale. There is disagreement about how significant this is, what is causing it, what the impact is, and what can or should be done about it. Biofuel production has increased in recent years. Some commodities such as corn, sugar cane, and vegetable oil can be used as food or feed or to make biofuels. For example, vegetable oils have become more attractive recently because of their environmental benefits and the fact that they are made from renewable resources. Vegetable oils are a renewable and potentially inexhaustible source of energy, with energy content close to that of diesel fuel. On the other hand, extensive use of vegetable oils may cause other significant problems such as starvation in developing countries.

Several studies have shown that biofuel production can be significantly increased without increased acreage.