Ecology or biofuels?

“On the one hand, a wide range of politicians support the EU Commission’s idea that we for Heaven’s sake cannot replace any food production in the EU with the production of energy crops, because in the end, it will make no difference to the CO2 balance. On the other hand, still larger amounts of state subsidies are given to ecological productions,” writes Marie-Louise Thøgersen, and continues:

The two political actions are in downright conflict.

The paradox lies in the fact that the yields from an ecologically cultivated wheat field is only half the size of the yields from a conventionally cultivated wheat field. So, if you believe that it is not responsible to use European grown wheat for the production of bioethanol – a production which occupies just 0.76 % of EU’s collected agricultural land – you ought to look at the agricultural land occupied by ecological productions. 

Today ecology occupies about 10 mill. ha in the EU. The production of biomass for bioethanol occupies about 1.4 mill. ha. Marie-Louise Thøgersen is right – we need to put the debate into perspective.