EU Rules on Biofuel Concern Soybean Growers

Argentina, Brazil, Business News/Analysis, European Union (EU), Field/Orchard/Plantation Crops/Residues, International, Opinions, Policy, Sustainability

May 31, 2011

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by Philip Brasher (Des Moines Register) The European Union has set new environmental and labor standards for the crops used to make biofuels there, angering U.S. farmers who worry that such restrictions could spread to other products and countries.
The standards include greenhouse gas limits that biofuel feedstocks must meet, and U.S. soybeans don’t qualify as a feedstock for European biodiesel.
Also in the rules is a requirement that exporters be able to trace the source of a shipment back to the farms on which it was grown, something the U.S. industry can’t do with existing storage and transportation practices.
…Biofuel feedstocks are required to reduce greenhouse emissions by 35 percent in comparison to petroleum, but soybeans are credited with only a 31 percent reduction regardless of where they are grown. …U.S. growers say the rating the EU assigned to soybeans is inaccurate because it doesn’t account for differences between U.S. and Brazilian farming practices. READ MORE

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