A global boom in biofuels intended to ease expensive gasoline and diesel imports caused by the Middle East war could require an additional area the size of Germany to be converted for fuel production, new analysis by think-tank Chatham House found. As fuel prices soar, major economies including Brazil, India, Indonesia, and the US are advancing policies to expand biofuel mandates in petroleum products. Global biofuel production is expected to rise by around 70% between 2025 and 2030. French President Emmanuel Macron recently asked the European Commission to allow more biofuels in diesel to help keep prices under control.
Chatham House found that if growing demand was not carefully managed, it was likely to lead to more deforestation and push up prices of key crops and products, such as corn and vegetable oil, which would worsen food security. These long-term pressures on land would be difficult — perhaps even impossible — to reverse, the report said. “Policymakers must therefore treat biofuels as a targeted transitional measure to help bridge the current oil crisis, rather than a permanent solution to the problem of energy security,” the report’s authors concluded.
