The production of biofuels based first on palm oil and, today, even on soybean oil, it clashes with the need to increase the arable land to increase production based on the growing demand for the market.

To do this, farmers are pushing for the availability of new land with the consequence of increasing deforestation in various areas of the planet. This, despite the bans already present worldwide, contributes in an important way to increasing the carbon footprint of the planet. the following article addresses the problem of the sustainability of fuels that define themselves as bio.

Banned palm oil as biofuel by 2030, if no action is taken again on European directive on renewable energies , soybean oil could take its place.

With the same dramatic consequences for the environment, forests and CO2 emissions. According to the research commissioned to Cerulogy by the NGO Transport & Environment , the thirst for soybean diesel in Europe could increase 2 to 4 times by 2030.

Causing the deforestation in Latin America of an area estimated to be between 2.4 and 4.2 million hectares. As much as the surface of a European state such as Slovenia or the Netherlands. With the possible emission of another 38 million tons of CO2 into the atmosphere.

The consumption of soybean oil doubled in one year

Only in 2019, the EU consumed about 1.8 million tons of soybean oil in biodiesel, out of a total of 15 million tons of biofuels.

A quantity that could double this year, according to the NGO's estimates. "Imports of soybeans will cause deforestation on an epic scale if we don't change the European law on green fuels," said Cristina Mestre, head of the biofuels area of Transport & Environment.

« The solution is there and it's very simple. The European Commission has already decided that palm diesel will no longer be considered green, now it should do the same for soy-derived diesel "

The reform of the directive « Renewable Energy - Recast to 2030 » redefines the regulation of biofuels with high and low ILUC risk (Indirect land use change), that is, causing an indirect change of land use but has so far excluded soybean oil. The Commission, to date, has decided to phase out, between 2023 and 2030, only the use of palm diesel.

The data elaborated by Cerulogy show that the expansion of soybean cultivation in areas of the globe capable of retaining carbon dioxide could be higher than estimated.

Ben 10.5% compared to the 8% estimated at the beginning of 2019. Percentage higher than the minimum threshold of 10% established by the EU Commission precisely to define an 'ILUC high-risk biofuel'.

If so, Transport & Environment reiterate, "the EU should already consider soy as a raw material with a high ILUC risk and eliminate its use at the latest by 2030 ".

European Commission on Deforestation are underestimated

The legislation European Union requires that biofuel raw materials be certified as grown in areas that have not been deforested since 2008.

However, indirect expansion, that which is it does not directly take the place of wooded areas and forests, it has not been taken into account. “If all these contributing causes are also taken into account, most of the biofuels used in Europe have very high greenhouse gas emissions. Sometimes even higher than those of fossil fuels ”, say from Transport & Environment.

Deforestation in Latin America has not stopped

Data in hand, despite political declarations of various governments, deforestation in Latin America has resumed growth since 2014, including in the Brazilian Amazon .

In addition, the expansion of pastures that is added to soybean farming has also spread elsewhere, in areas that are equally valuable, but less protected. As in Chaco, a geographical area between Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil and Paraguay and the great Brazilian tropical savannah of the Cerrado. Area that had already been subjected to the preliminary assessment of the European Commission on high ILUC risk raw materials in 2019.

Yet 60% of the expansion of soybeans in Brazil has concentrated in the Cerrado in the last two years. "The European policy on biofuels is a complete disaster and is in desperate need of a reset - reiterates Cristina Mestre of Transport & Environment - burning food crops to power our vehicles is actually worse than burning diesel".

Automatic translation. We apologize for any inaccuracies

Rosy Battaglia