One of the major controversies swirling around the new law, passed by Congress in December, is its effect on food prices. As both gas and grocery bills rise worldwide, the argument has become increasingly heated, but the connection between the two has not necessarily become any clearer. Contradictory studies seem to inundate the debate, as witnesses testifying before Congress Thursday illustrated.

The Renewable Fuel Standard mandates a certain amount of biofuels be produced each year, starting at 8.5 billion gallons this year and rising to 36 billion gallons by 2022.

With growing concerns over energy costs and climate change, the RFS could be instrumental in helping wean the nation from foreign oil and carbon-spewing fossil fuels. However, a number of potential problems may also be inherent in the legislation, witnesses said Thursday in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

"There can be no doubt that the stipulations of the Renewable Fuel Standard had impacts on poor people and hunger," said Joachim von Braun of the International Food Policy Research Institute, an organization that works to end poverty and hunger.

Worldwide the use of cereals such as corn to make biofuels increased 32 percent in 2007 and 2008, and is estimated to grow another 31 percent in the coming year, with similar figures in the United States, according to the International Grains Council, an intergovernmental organization. This shift in usage from food to fuel has impacted food prices, von Braun told senators.

"The increased biofuel demand (from 2000 to 2007), compared with previous historical rates of growth, is estimated to have accounted for 30 percent of the increase in weighted average grain prices," von Braun said, citing a study performed by his organization.

But other studies show little connection between an increase in cereal crop prices and the price of other foods, including one conducted by Texas A&M University's Agricultural and Food Policy Center.

"Higher corn prices can be passed on to consumers fairly quickly," as well as for commodities like bread, milk and eggs, said Joe Outlaw, co-director of the center. "The contribution of higher corn prices on these commodities has not had as much of an impact on prices as other factors, such as national and international weather variability."

On the flip side, other experts argue biofuels actually lower prices for the average consumer by decreasing the price paid at the pump.

At about $2.50 a gallon, ethanol currently costs less than gasoline, and this offsets any increase in food prices, said Alexander Karsner, assistant secretary for energy efficiency and renewable energy for the Department of Energy.

"We'd be paying 25 to 35 cents more per gallon were ethanol not being produced at the rates it is today," Karsner said. "(That) more than compensates for any incremental change in food prices."

Under the RFS, the Environmental Protection Agency has the ability to decrease the mandated amount of biofuels. The governors of Texas and Connecticut already have requested the required volume be decreased, but witnesses at Thursday's hearing said granting the waiver could be devastating to the development of next-generation biofuels, which can be made from non-food crops.

These cellulosic fuels are being made in test plants, a number of which are slated to be online within the next two years. The RFS mandates that 21 billion of the 36 billion gallons of biofuels come from advanced sources by 2022.

If a waiver is granted, it will undermine moving away from food-based fuels to these new alternatives, Karsner said.

"In terms of progression for cellulosic fuels, I think it would be devastating," he said. "All of the capital that has been galvanized for that is waiting with bated breath to see if Washington stands behind the (RFS) policy."

While today's technology may not be ideal, it is paving the way for a more sustainable future, said Jack Huttner, vice president of biorefinery business development for Genencor, a biotechnology company working on the development of biofuels.

"The infrastructure of today's ethanol is vital to second-generation biofuels," Huttner said.

And the advent of these new fuels on a commercial scale is only two to five years away, he said.

However, some of the provisions in the RFS itself may prevent the advanced biofuels industry from reaching its full potential, said Jason Pyle, CEO of Sapphire Energy.

Currently the law specifies certain fuels, feedstocks and technologies that can be used to meet the mandated amount, while excluding others. This discourages innovation, said Pyle, whose company produces gasoline from algae -- a technology excluded from the RFS mandate.

"What we have is a policy that favors technologies based mainly on food and agricultural land," Pyle told senators. "What we need is a policy that favors all avenues to energy independence."

Sapphire Energy's "green crude" is carbon neutral and can be used to produce gasoline, diesel and aircraft fuel, Pyle said.

Other companies and entrepreneurs also have complained about the limitations on what is counted as renewable under the law, including Solazyme, a company that also uses algae to produce fuel, as well as other industrial products.

Instead of focusing on the means to the ultimate goal, the RFS should promote anything that will help the nation get there, said Jonathan Wolfson, CEO of Solazyme.

"It should be technology-neutral and should be ends-driven," Wolfson told United Press International. "It should be focused on increasing domestic fuel supply and reducing carbon footprint."

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