Martin Ferris (Kerry North, Sinn Fein)
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Question 105: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if she will make a statement on recent reports regarding the threat which energy crops pose to world food production and the implications that might have for this country. [13010/08]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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To promote the increased production and use of biofuels, the Commission is proposing that biofuels make up 10% of EU transport fuel by 2020. This has led to concerns that the demand for biofuels is compromising food production and driving up the price of food. While it its true that cereal and rapeseed prices reached record levels in 2007, this was due only in part to the increased interest in biofuels, other factors include the tight global wheat supply situation due to declining stocks and poor harvests resulting from adverse weather conditions as well as increasing demand for grain from developing economies such as China and India.

In response to the current high prices for cereals and the abolition by the EU of compulsory set aside, extra land is being devoted to cereal production in Ireland and across the Community in 2008. It is forecast that the 2008 wheat crop could increase across the EU by 17m tonnes compared to 2007. As crops for biofuels are estimated to account for about 3m — 4m tonnes of production, the additional 13m tonnes of cereals at EU level should help increase the availability of stocks for food and animal feed. Teagasc estimate that potentially some 75,000 – 100,000 hectares of land could be devoted to energy crops in Ireland without impacting negatively on animal feed and food production. In the near future, the feedstock base could be expanded further in Ireland with the development of new second-generation technologies to convert biomass crops (miscanthus and willow) into liquid biofuels. The Irish climate is generally well suited to the production of biomass crops.

In 2007, the EU Commission carried out an 'Impact Assessment' to assess the effect of the 10% biofuel target on EU- 27 agricultural markets in 2020. Taking into account such issues as the likely level of imports, the increased availability of second-generation biofuels from 2014 onwards and the fact that biomass yields (miscanthus, straw etc.) could be significantly higher than for cereals, the Commission conclude that the 10% biofuel scenario would not overly stretch land availability, and as a consequence food production.

In January' 08, the EU Commission published a new Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the promotion of the use of renewable energy sources. The Directive lays down detailed rules relating to environmental sustainability criteria for biofuels that are counted towards the 10% target and proposes a detailed monitoring and reporting system for biofuel production. As part of the monitoring process, Member States are required to submit a report to Commission in 2011 and every 2 years thereafter detailing, among other things, the impact on commodity prices and land use changes within the Member State associated with the increased use of biomass and other forms of renewable energy. The Commission will be required to analyse, among other items, the impact of EU biofuel policy on the availability of foodstuffs in exporting countries, the ability of people in developing countries to afford these foodstuffs and wider development issues.

The reality is that biofuel production is currently one of the few practical ways of making a real impact on oil dependence and greenhouse gas emissions in the transport sector. Nonetheless the objective should be to ensure that biofuels are produced in a sustainable fashion and do not have undesirable consequences for food production, the environment and biodiversity.