FoE Europe - Agrofuels home

What's new

REPORT:
LOSING THE PLOT
the threats to community land and the rural poor through the spread of the biofuel jatropha in India

REPORT: Too Green to be True

REPORT: Biofuels - Handle with care

Further reading

REPORT: Soy consumption for feed and fuel in the European Union

REPORT: Malaysian palm oil: Green gold or green wash?

REPORT: Fuelling Destruction in Latin America: The real price of the drive for agrofuels

REPORT: Sustainability as a smokescreen. Read our critique of certification schemes

REPORT: Rising Food Prices Threaten World's Poor People - new report examines the impact of growth, climate change, and biofuels

OECD report raises new concerns about agrofuels

FoE complains about palm oil adverts

Palm oil scandal - reports into the activities of Wilmar - the world's biggest palm oil trader

Read the warnings!

Dire warnings have been issued about agrofuels - read the latest here!

EU legislation and initiatives

Follow the agrofuel issue through the EU's complex legislative process

International

FoE International

NEW REPORT: Biofuels for Europe driving land grabbing in Africa

landgrab Land being used for biofuels in Bilene District, Mozambique (Credit: Daniel Ribeiro)

Brussels, Belgium and Benin City, Nigeria, August 30 – The amount of land being taken in Africa to meet Europe’s increasing demand for biofuels is underestimated and out of control, new investigations by Friends of the Earth reveal today. [1] Read more...

Biofuels: No sustainability in sight

Brussels, June 10 - Commenting on the European Commission's Communication on new sustainability criteria for biofuels, Adrian Bebb, food and agriculture campaigner at Friends of the Earth Europe said: "Europe's policy on biofuels is inherently unsustainable. It is driving deforestation, damaging the environment, creating more greenhouse gas emissions, increasing hunger and encouraging rampant land-grabbing in the South. It will take a lot more than a few criteria and voluntary schemes to make them sustainable. The EU should abandon this folly and invest in genuine energy reductions in the transport sector." Read more...

Europe's biofuel policy unsustainable new research confirms

Brussels, 26 March – New research released by the European Commission confirms that Europe’s demand for biofuels is likely to contribute to climate change and harm the environment. Read more...

NEW REPORT: Europe's demand for palm oil driving deforestation and land-grabbing

Amsterdam/Brussels, 15 March 2010 - One of the leading suppliers of "green" palm oil to Europe is causing illegal encroachment upon Indonesian forest and peat land, according to a report published today by Friends of the Earth Europe. The report exposes the illegal activities of the Malaysian showcase company IOI Group and shows that the increasing demand in Europe for palm oil in food and biofuels is leading to deforestation, breaches of environmental law and land conflicts in Asia. Read more...

European Commission plans to sacrifice forests for biofuels

Brussels, 3 February 2010 - A leaked document from the European Commission reveals plans to allow the controversial use of palm oil as a biofuel by redefining palm plantations as 'forests'. The expansion of palm plantations is a major cause of tropical rainforest destruction.
The draft Commission guidance for EU countries also states that cutting down a rainforest and planting a palm plantation would be possible under EU laws aimed at stopping 'unsustainable' biofuels.

Killing Fields: the battle to feed factory farms

A hidden chain of destruction stretches from the factory farms in Europe to the forests of South America - where huge soy plantations, grown to feed chickens, cows and pigs in Europe, are wiping out wildlife and making climate change worse.

Agrofuels : Fuelling or fooling Europe?

Photo: Deforestation for Palm Oil

Friends of the Earth Europe believes that the current rush to develop agrofuels is ill-conceived and will contribute to an already unsustainable trade in plant-based oils whilst not solving the problems of climate change or energy security.

Agrofuels (also called biofuels) are liquid fuels produced from agricultural crops. They are promoted as a way of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and reducing our dependency on conventional mineral oil. In reality agrofuels often deliver poor greenhouse gas savings and some of them pose a threat to ecosystems that act as vital carbon sinks. A more effective way to reduce greenhouse gases and secure energy supply is to reduce demand, improve efficiency and develop sustainable transport systems. Agrofuels are no substitute for these priorities.

Photo: Indonesian forest with Wilmar's land clearing on the background hills. Click for free print quality photo, credit: Milieudefensie/FoE Netherlands

Friends of the Earth Europe is calling for:

A moratorium on European financial subsidies and targets that encourage the development and production of large-scale agrofuels.
The introduction of EU laws that lead to year-on-year reductions of greenhouse gases. This will include giving higher priority to reducing transport demand.
Europe-wide laws to force manufacturers to produce more efficient vehicles, power stations etc.
Higher priority to producing fuels from waste products such as from used cooking fat.
Initiatives that aim to reduce the disproportionate environmental space the EU is using up at the expense of developing countries.