7th January 2010

EU crop yields have the capability to support EU’s demands for food and fuel

Additional demand for EU cereal grains will lead to higher crop yields. This has the potential to provide most of the extra crops that will be required to meet both the EU’s food needs as well as the EU targets for biofuels. This is one of the conclusions of a second scientific paper by Ensus, which has been published in the respected journal ‘Global Change Biology - Bioenergy’.

This paper shows that the relative contributions of yield and area depend on the relative economics of obtaining increased output from these alternative sources. Of all the crops and regions considered, EU cereal grain yields have been the most responsive to demand signals. The paper highlights that any evaluation of the land use consequences of new demand for biofuels derived from EU biorefinery feedstock crops needs to properly account for the responsiveness of crop yields to this new demand.

Ensus believes that evidence-based research and analysis, subjected to independent scientific review, is essential to the formulation of good policy that can meet the challenges of climate change, food and energy security, and sustainable economic growth.