Overview on Biofuels From a European Perspective

In light of the recently developed European Union (EU)Biofuels Strategy, the literature is reviewed to examine (a)the coherency of biofuel production with the EU nonindustrial vision of agriculture, and (b)given its insufficient land base, the implications of a proposed bioenergy pact to grow biofuel crops in the developing world to meet EU biofuel demands. The EU acknowledged that the use of food crops for biofuel production was based on wrong assumptions concerning climate change mitigation, and its support has now shifted to second-generation nonfood crops. The bioenergy pact entails (a)biofuel crops production in developing countries, especially Africa, that in the absence of environmental and social regulations may lead to ethical trade-offs in land use (food vs. fuel)and (b)the use of transgenic technology that conflicts with the EU's own vision of sustainable agriculture.