Biofuel demand continues to grow worldwide despite being responsible for 16% more CO2 emissions globally than the fossil fuels they replace. Using just 3% of the same land for solar would produce the same amount of energy, new study shows
• By 2030 biofuels crops will require land the size of France, which would make it the sixth largest country in terms of arable land use globally.
• Today, the equivalent of 100 million bottles of vegetable oil are burned in cars every day, meaning a fifth of all vegetable oil is never even used for food.
• On average, 3,000 litres of water are needed to drive 100 km on biofuels.
• Just 3% of the land currently used for first-generation biofuels could produce the same amount of energy with solar panels.
Global biofuels production emits 16% more CO2 than the fossil fuels it replaces, a new Cerulogy report on behalf of T&E shows. The same land could feed 1.3 billion people, while using just 3% of that land for solar panels would produce the same amount of energy. With demand set to rise by at least 40% by 2030, T&E calls for global leaders meeting in Brazil for COP30 to agree to limit the expansion of a climate solution that is doing more harm than good.
Today, growing crops to be burned as fuel uses up 32 million hectares of land - roughly the size of Italy - to meet just 4% of global transport energy demand. By 2030 this is set to grow by 60% to 52 million hectares - the size of France. (....)