Biofuels, widely reported to be one of the culprits behind the recent spikes in food prices, could be just what Africa needs to secure its food and energy future, argue Lee R. Lynd, professor of engineering sciences at Dartmouth’s Thayer School, and Jeremy Woods, of Imperial College London, in an Outlook on biofuels in the journal Nature published June 23, 2011. By growing inedible plants on poor land, these ‘next-generation’ biofuels are a simple, sustainable source of energy that can power rural, developing economies. This type of fuel could empower Africans with a “sorely needed agricultural infrastructure and knowhow” and provide “an economically rewarding way to regenerate Africa’s vast areas of degraded land.”
Read the article, published in Nature on June 23, 2011.
