Brussels, 05/05/2011 (Agence Europe) - During a meeting on Tuesday 3 May in Brussels, EU farming and cooperative organisations demanded that European policies on farming, energy, the environment and trade be coherent with biofuels.
Pekka Pesonen, the secretary-general of Copa-Cogeca, declared that “the EU biofuels/bioliquids sector must not be penalised or left at a disadvantage if other EU policies include measures which restrict productivity improvements in agriculture or cause the EU to outsource production. This would only result in deforestation and higher emissions in non-EU countries which runs counter to the EU's objectives.”
If there is no sustainable use of biofuels in the EU, the latter is in danger of failing to meet its goals on greenhouse gas emissions by 2020, emphasised Copa-Cogeca. It also stresses that “whilst food production is the main objective of farming, biofuels offer many advantages in terms of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, providing employment in EU rural areas. And they can be produced in the EU in a sustainable way, without being responsible for indirect land-use changes in non- EU countries.”
Copa-Cogeca explains that “this is because not all available arable land in the EU is farmed. In addition, only part of the oilseed, cereals and sugar beet crop used to produce biofuels are actually converted into energy. The majority stays in the feed sector, with protein-rich by-products from biofuel production helping the EU to reduce its heavy dependence on imported animal feed.”
Copa-Cogeca concludes that increased biofuel production in the EU also relieves land pressures in non-EU countries and helps to combat deforestation of tropical rainforests. It would also reduce the price of animal feed, which is currently hitting EU livestock farmers hard. (L.C./transl.fl)