Cuban leader Fidel Castro considered "sinister" the idea of United States President George W. Bush to convert food into combustible, saying that if successful millions of poverty stricken people will die of hunger worldwide.

Many people, among the hungry masses of the planet, will die if food is converted into ethanol, said Castro in an article published Thursday by the official daily "Granma."

Although Bush "talks about producing combustible from grass or wood scraps, anybody understands that they are phrases lacking realism," added Castro.

Castro, who is recovering from an intestinal operation he underwent last year, was discussing the meeting held Tuesday between Bush and automobile makers of the United States.

The head of the White House urged auto makers to double the production of vehicles that use alternative fuels (such as corn and soya) as an environmental measure to reduce the dependency on petroleum.

Through his "sinister idea," Bush condemned "over three billion persons worldwide to die of hunger and thirst," said Castro.

He added that one ton of corn only produces 109 gallons of ethanol, so 320 million tons of grain are needed to produce 35 billion gallons of ethanol.

Fidel Castro contrasted the idea proposed by Bush with the case of Cuba, where "the fields that had been dedicated to the direct production of alcohol are now a lot more useful for the production of food for the people and the protection of the environment."

He added that all the nations of the world could save millions of dollars of investment and fuel by changing the incandescent lightbulbs for fluorescent ones, something that has been done in the island.

"That would give an opportunity to resist climate change without causing the death of the poor masses of the world," added Castro.

The United States and Brazil are world leaders in the production of biofuels such as ethanol and biodiesel. Sugarcane and corn are used to make ethanol and soya for biodiesel.

Source: Xinhua