The European Community has received a report prepared by the International Food Policy Research Institute on global trade and the environmental impact of the EU Biofuels Mandate. Biofuel development has been supported as a way to reduce the dependency on fossil fuels and it has been seen as a good source of income for farmers particularly in developing countries and a significant reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions compared to non-renewable fuel sources. Some countries like Malaysia, Argentina, Brazil and Tanzania have invested significantly in the redeployment of land for the growth of biofuels. However, there have been recent criticisms over the perceived positive impact of biofuels on food production and overall use and redelopyemnt of land. It seems that in some instances the indirect land use change (ILUC) can actually release more carbon emissions as forests and pristine lands are converted to cropland due to biofuel expansion. This has led to the current debate over whether, and how, the ILUC effects should be accounted for, along with the direct land use change effects, in evaluating the potential impact of biofuel policies.
Major producers of buifuels, on the other hand, are arguing in favour of their direct involvement prior to the development of bio-fuel ILUC policies at a European level.
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