The Soil Association on biofuels

The Soil Association welcomes the conclusions of the House of Commons environmental audit committee report, ‘Are biofuels sustainable?’ - that, as presently promoted by the agribusiness lobby, any expansion of biofuel production will damage rather than benefit the environment.

According to Robin Maynard, Campaigns Director, the Committee’s report exposes the false green mantle masking the true costs of and vested interests behind the push for biofuels. The main crops proposed for producing biofuels, oil-seed rape and sugar-beet, are simply old commodity crops seeking to revive flagging markets. He continues that more deviously, the biotech industry is trying to use biofuels as a ‘Trojan Horse’ to by-pass public hostility to GM crops.  If the EU and UK Governments are serious about enabling agriculture to play its part in addressing climate change, they should support sustainable organic farming which uses less energy to produce our food and brings proven benefits to the environment. 
 
A recent Defra study confirmed organic farming typically requires 26% less energy overall than intensive non-organic agriculture. These energy savings are delivered by avoiding the use of nitrogen fertilisers, relying instead on crop rotations, livestock manures, and use of clover, which boosts fertility by naturally ‘fixing’ nitrogen from the atmosphere.

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