In Europe, we have seen that the agricultural area has been decreasing by half a million hectares every year for more than 25 years. In 2018, 3 million hectares lay fallow. This soil can be used to supply the biofuel industry with raw materials, for example by growing rapeseed. By now using and keeping these lands, investments are made in efficient food chains and local knowledge. As a result, these areas will later become accessible for food production. It can also prevent indirect changes in land use (for example, deforestation). Research from the University of Utrecht shows that in addition to producing more on existing agricultural land or by using land that has little natural value, land that can be used in the past it was used as farmland, but now it is abandoned.
Policy
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has a number of resources for policy and implementation for governments to ensure that biofuels are produced as sustainably as possible without negatively impacting the food supply.
