Italians Show Energy and Food Can Grow in Harmony

by Kelsey Nowakowski

As global food demand rises, so
does the controversy of growing crops for biofuels on arable land. But
it’s not really as cut and dried as some critics make it out to be. The
food versus fuel debate just might miss the fact that there are people
practicing ways to create greener energy and produce the same amount of
food all while improving soil health.

To be fair, conventional biofuel
production is frequently in conflict with growing food. Farmers that
raise only biofuel crops could instead be using the land to grow food
for people. And, biofuel production may increase food prices by
competing for space with crops intended for human consumption: The
increase in U.S. corn production to make ethanol was linked to the 2007 food price spikes in Mexico.

Fuel crops don’t always have to threaten food production, though, and some farmers in Italy are proving that it can work.

In the last five years, around 1,200
biogas operations, known as anaerobic digesters, have been installed on
farms in northern Italy. Termed the “BiogasDoneRight” model, this on-farm biogas production doesn’t hinder food production but rather enhances it, according to the Italian Biogas Council.

Photograph by Geography Photos/UIG via Getty Images
Operations like this one, where machines harvest a crop of rye for biofuels in Suffolk, England, may become more common.