Increased global demand for biofuel, boosted by fluctuating global oil prices and government green mandates, has led to higher global food prices. The plant-based petroleum substitute comes either as bioethanol, from fermented vegetable mass–mainly sugarcane, corn, cassava or potatoes–or as biodiesel, a byproduct of processed plant oils, among them soybean, coconut and canola, and competes against using these produce for food.
Apart from land use conflicts, biofuels are also associated with the destruction of intact ecosystems; biofuel plantations in Brazil and Indonesia have already encroached into pristine forest areas.
Dam reservoirs have permanently flooded farmlands and natural habitats even as they provide hydropower – roughly 20% of the world’s electricity – to communities. The World Commission on Dams Framework (WCD), which reviewed experiences from 1,000 dams in 79 countries, reported that dam-building has physically displaced 40 to 80 million people worldwide. The Three Gorges dam in China, for instance, has displaced more than a million people and affected their agricultural livelihoods, and even led to the extinction of the Yangtze river dolphin after it blocked the tributaries where they nurtured their young.
Large-scale hydropower can drown ecosystems and can be inconvenient during prolonged droughts and dry seasons when rivers dry up. Small-scale or micro-hydro mechanisms are gaining in popularity and could instead be considered, together with a holistic assessment of the economic, environmental, infrastructural, and socio-political impact of the project.