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Wheat grows as a biofuel feedstock
Aug. 31, 2009 -London, UK -Interest in Europe for biofuels has taken a turn towards wheat as a feedstock, as prices for the grain have declined due to a recent supply glut.
August 31, 2009 By National Post/Reuters
August 31, 2009
Nigel Hunt, Reuters
LONDON -A sharp decline in wheat prices driven by a supply glut is set to lead to more of the grain being turned into motor fuel in the European Union.
Demand for bioethanol, a renewable substitute for petrol normally made from either grains or sugar crops, is increasing in the EU. It is seen as a way to reduce emissions of the greenhouse gases believed to contribute to climate change.
Wheat is now in the pole position to help meet the demand with the price of alternative feedstock sugar rising to the highest levels in nearly three decades earlier this month and sugar-derived bioethanol imports from Brazil on the wane.
Switch to wheat for a cheap feedstock