University of Minnesota Speaker Says Global Land Use Must Be Considered in Biofuel Debate

by Heather Thorstensen (AgriNews.com) John Sheehan of the University of Minnesota says the debate on biofuels should shift from food versus fuel to how land is used globally for biofuel production and other purposes.

"We need to not look at land use as a biofuels problem, we need to look at biofuels as (being part of) a mix of solving our land use problem," he said.

..Land around the world is being used in unsustainable ways, he explained afterward during an Agri News interview. He'd like to see work done to help solve these issues across our borders. ..."Do we really know that we need to expand total agricultural land on a global scale to meet new biofuels demand? I would say we don't know the answer. There are so many things that influence how much land we use in agriculture," he said. READ MORE