This is very interesting. The EU, bless their enlightened hearts, are considering passing a law that would ensure that 10% of transport fuel should come by biofuel by the year 2020.
Sounds good. The resistance came from an unexpected side: Environmental activists and sustainability-minded organizations. They're thinking about the bigger picture, and I for one am impressed.
The claim: While biofuel is great, it has to come from someplace. More demand for biofuels means somebody will have to grow more corn (or soy, or what not), and that has social, economic, and environmental reprecussions, some of which can be negative. So, ironically, increasing the demand for biofuel without making sure that producers don't start planting it where other carbon-eliminating vegetation was can cause a net worsening of the situation, rather than an improvement.
At least, that's what the EU Observer says that Friends of the Earth and others are saying (which means that, by the time You're reading this here, it's pretty much a third-hand account).
Still, I'm impressed with the complexity of these questions, and really glad that some people out there are thinking about the big picture.
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