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Chevron REG: ‘Food vs fuel’ is now ‘food and fuel’

The head of Chevron Renewable Energy Group says the narrative of the so-called food versus fuel debate has changed.

Kevin Lucke tells Brownfield agriculture is meeting the needs of the food and energy industries. “I’d say 20 years ago clearly it was food versus fuel, particularly when the biodiesel industry and ethanol started. But over the last 20 years, agriculture is producing both for the US and the world.”

He tells Brownfield innovation has been the key. “You just see the yields increasing in agriculture. You see new products coming that will provide new oil seeds that are growing over the winter seasons. That’s really the solution is the innovation that’s happening in agriculture.”

Lucke says renewable fuels, like biodiesel, give farmers a market-based incentive to boost overall meat and grain production.