The land used to produce it could feed 1.6 billion people, according to an Oxfam study.

According to the NGO Oxfam, which published a study on Wednesday, September 11, to which France Inter had access, the land used in the world to cultivate and produce biofuels could feed 1.6 billion people. These bio-sourced fuels are notably present in Unleaded 95-E10, which includes ethanol enriched to 10% by a biofuel.

“France burns food to consume energy”, Quentin Ghesquière, Oxfam’s advocacy officer, denounces to France Inter. The study shows that “86% of our biofuels are produced from crops that directly compete with food”. In fact, “The increase in the consumption of biofuels causes an increase in prices”analyzes Quentin Ghesquière.

On a European scale, “The land used for growing biofuels is equivalent to the size of Ireland”he notes. He advocates the use of solar panels which, for an equal energy production, would only use “2.5% of these lands”.

Furthermore, the Oxfam study estimates that the development of agrofuels “has notably contributed to global warming” because of the “land use change”. Quentin Ghesquière explains that “forests, meadows” previously used as carbon sinks become fields of “soybeans, sugarcane” and “absorb less” of carbon.

“Incentive policies for the introduction of biofuels into our energy mix have deleterious effects”deplores Quentin Ghesquière. Oxfam is therefore calling for an end to tax policies supporting agrofuels.