Biocarburanti: il dibattito politico e scientifico, le linee di ricerca, l’esempio della UE

For over a decade, following the food crisis caused by the considerable increase of agricultural commodity prices, political institutions and scientific debate have raised strong objections against bioenergy: the issue concerns biofuels in particular, accused of triggering a competition in the land use between food production and energy production. The subject recalls well-known phenomena, such as Land grabbing and Land concentration, since the leading countries in the production and consumption of biofuels lack the land needed to meet the growing demand for bioenergy. This paper retraces the main themes of the issue and demonstrates how it has influenced the evolution of the EU bioenergy policy, which recently took the form of a set of rules gradually aimed at discouraging the use of first-generation biofuels.