Increased production of bio-fuels could intensify farming and forestry in Europe, with negative impacts on natural habitats and soil and water resources, according to the European Environment Agency (EEA).
As more farmers consider diversifying into bio-fuels, the Copenhagen-based agency voiced its concerns in a report published yesterday entitled How Much Bio-energy Can Europe Produce Without Harming the Environment?
The report was released to coincide with a meeting in Luxembourg where EU Ministers will discuss the EU's biomass action plan, which aims to increase the production of bio-fuels from crops and forestry.
It said Europe could produce sufficient bio-energy to meet its renewable energy target without harming the environment. However, this could only be done if the EU adopted an "appropriate policy framework" to ensure that this does not cut across environmental protection policies.
The EU is committed to a 12 per cent target for renewable energy by 2010. It is doing this both to secure energy supplies at a time when oil and gas prices are rising steeply and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Biomass is organic matter, such as wood and elephant grass, that can be used to generate heat, electricity and fuel for transport. It currently provides two-thirds of the renewable energy produced in Europe. Much of the rest comes from wind power.
The EEA report found that Europe could produce 190 Mtoe (million tonnes of oil equivalent) of bio-energy in an environmentally-sustainable way by 2010, providing certain criteria were met.
It said such bio-fuel crops as perennial grasses and short-rotation forestry can combine high yields with relatively low environmental pressures.
