The British National Farmer's Union (NFU) has criticised proposals from the European Commission to reduce the amount of biofuel needed in transport fuels, saying that policies need to be developed to support the production of crops for both food and fuels.
EC officials last week said that it will revise down the required amount of food crops required to be used in transport on the continent from 10% to 5% in light of concerns over the availability of crops for food and the recent rise in grain and wheat prices.
The NFU believes however, that the savings made in greenhouse gas emissions will not be sufficient under the new proposals.
"For those that argue this is about food or fuel I say this: The biofuel industry has been helping to address the needs of both food and fuel through long-term market stability, flexibility of crop patterns and bio-refining to produce quality, high-protein animal feed," said Andrew Watts, chairman of the NFU's Combinanble Crops initiative. "These proposals will only exacerbate the situation of high prices for both food and fuel," he added.
PetrolWorld 23102012