The systemic problems with 'biofuels' expansion begin to be headlined at last!

In a new report the UK's Royal Society suggests current EU and UK policy for biofuels may not deliver the much touted benefits and unless well understood may deliver unintended consequences. In Brussels 'Europe's environment chief has admitted that the EU did not foresee the problems raised by its policy to get 10% of Europe's road fuels from plants' and the EU is now revising its policies.

In another complex situation there is continuing European opposition to GM food imports. There is strong political will in Europe to maintain this position. In the end the US and places like the state of Victoria (Australia) may have to concede this issue because at the end of the day Europe is a bigger market than the US.

It is good that there are people who take a stand on these issues and that new, systemic understandings, are emerging. That said, if the policy developers had engaged in a systemic inquiry from the start some of these unintended consequences could have been appreciated!