In the European Union, growing attention to biofuels is directly linked to the need to cut greenhouse gas emissions, and lies therefore in the more general scope of actions to combat climate change. More specifically, in order to cut emissions from transport, the EU has chosen to opt decidedly for first generation biofuels, expecting them to make up 10% of fuels on the market by 2020. Amongst other things, this will add to the tendency of agricultural prices to increase and become more volatile, favouring the already strong financial speculations and weighing heavily on the possibilities of poorer countries to access food. Given these conditions, the choice to privilege first generation biofuels seems much more functional to the interests and profit strategies of a restricted number of big industrial groups, rather than to the so-claimed general environmental objectives. Copyright © 2012 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.
Biofuels and EU’s choices / Vieri, Simone. - In: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENT AND HEALTH. - ISSN 1743-4955. - STAMPA. - 6:2(2012), pp. 155-169. [10.1504/ijenvh.2012.049330]
Biofuels and EU’s choices
VIERI, Simone
2012
Abstract
In the European Union, growing attention to biofuels is directly linked to the need to cut greenhouse gas emissions, and lies therefore in the more general scope of actions to combat climate change. More specifically, in order to cut emissions from transport, the EU has chosen to opt decidedly for first generation biofuels, expecting them to make up 10% of fuels on the market by 2020. Amongst other things, this will add to the tendency of agricultural prices to increase and become more volatile, favouring the already strong financial speculations and weighing heavily on the possibilities of poorer countries to access food. Given these conditions, the choice to privilege first generation biofuels seems much more functional to the interests and profit strategies of a restricted number of big industrial groups, rather than to the so-claimed general environmental objectives. Copyright © 2012 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.