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| Editorial: ratio versus emotions
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These days, discussions within the Parliament and the Council are revealing the political positions. In the discussions an awkward ad-hoc anti-biofuels coalition has grown between oil companies and certain environmental organisations. However, having crossed their first swords, the politicians seem to resist the pressure. In the last couple of days, the renewable energy Directive has only been treated in a general way. Nevertheless, it is already clear that the principles are not disputed. Of course the devil is in the detail, but it all starts with commitment. It is therefore important to acknowledge that everybody seems to be committed to a growth in renewables, and specifically in biofuels. People are cautious, and indeed, they ought to be. If in the years towards 2020 the biofuels market is proven to indeed affect the food and feed markets, measures have to be taken. For now, there is no proof for that. So monitoring of the interaction between food and fuel markets is very important, to separate emotional arguments from rational ones. Moreover, the monitoring of the sustainability of biofuels is crucial. We can expect some hundreds of amendment proposals regarding the sustainability criteria in the coming weeks Still, one more remark on the issue: using terms like 'biofuels', 'first' and 'second generation', 'agrofuels' we tend to forget that not all biofuels are originating from the agrobusiness, because it has been produced from other sources, like waste. So let's keep the non-agro biofuels out of the food prices discussion.
Source: GP Newsdesk |
Rolf de Vos
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