Brussels, 08/11/2010 (Agence Europe) - According to a study commissioned by the environment NGOs Greenpeace, ActionAid, Birdlife International, ClientEarth, European Environment, FERN, Friends of the Earth Europe, Transport & Environnement and Wetland International, the binding objective for 2020 in each member state of 10% biofuel out of the total consumption of fuel used for transport may mean converting a surface area of an additional 69,000 km² of land over the planet, thereby increasing global warming. “An area over twice the size of Belgium will need to be converted into fields and plantations - putting (…) poor communities in danger, if European countries do not change their plans for getting petrol and diesel fuel from crops by 2020”, argues the document, which analyses the national action plans on renewable energies, which have so far been submitted to the European Commission by 23 of the 27 member states of the EU. The study also stresses that with the change of use of the land, the production of green fuel would be responsible for 27 to 56 million tonnes of greenhouse gases every year, the equivalent to between 12 and 26 million vehicles on Europe's roads by 2020. The five largest member states (Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy and Spain) will be responsible for 75% of these increased emissions. For its part, the Commission, which is due to publish a report on the use of biofuel by the end of the year, is still playing down the impact of them. “The targeted 10% of biofuel will need between two and five million hectares of land and the EU broadly has the capacity to cover its own needs, because of land no longer use for arable farming”, state the services of Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger. (E.H./transl.fl)