A study by Iowa State University's Center for Agriculture and Rural Development has been published. Emerging Biofuels: Outlook of Effects on US Grain, Oilseed, and Livestock Markets argues that greater US ethanol production will mean more competition for land and grain, and will subsequently cause long-run crop price increases. It says that the expanding US ethanol market has already driven US retail food prices up by $14 billion over the last year.

For a study examining the issue of agriculture for food versus agriculture for energy see Wolf J, Bindraban PS , Luijten JC and Vleeshouwers LM (2003) Exploratory study on the land area required for global food supply and the potential global production of bioenergy, Agricultural Systems, Volume 76, Issue 3, June 2003.

There is an interesting 5 page feature on the expansion of ethanol in the US in the USDA’s April 2006 issue of Amber Waves. According to the USDA, ethanol use currently accounts for 12% of maize use in the US New ethanol plants are being built across the corn belt which will increase ethanol production by around 50%

Environmental impact of cereals and oilseed rape for food and biofuels in the UK, published by the Home Grown Cereals Authority, examines the potential for using the 3 million tonnes of cereals which we currently export as a biofuel instead.

How much bioenergy can Europe produce without harming the environment?, published by the European Environment Agency, concludes that increasing the use of renewable energies offers significant opportunities for Europe to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and secure its energy supply. However, the substantial rise in the use of biomass from agriculture, forestry and waste for producing energy might put additional pressure on farmland and forest biodiversity as well as on soil and water resources.

An article on the impact of the 2003 heatwave on European vegetation and agricultural production can be found in the journal Nature, Nature 437, 529-533 (22 September 2005). The heatwave that parched Europe in 2003 caused the continent's grasslands and forests to release huge amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Heatwaves are predicted to become more common as a result of climate change, so the discovery raises fears that forests in temperate regions will become significant emitters of this greenhouse gas.