A damning report by the charity Action Aid has pointed out that the European Union’s (EU) bioenergy targets are hammering third world nations.
The EU has set out plans to replace ten per cent of all road transport fuel with the sustainable biofuel Ethanol by 2020, but the charity says the ambitions are placing too much pressure on the poorer countries harvesting the crops.
As a result, EU nations including the UK may need to look closer to home to grow biofuel crops.
A recent report released by the Energy Technology Institute suggested that up to ten per cent of Britain’s disused land could be used to harvest biocrops.
Increasing facilities in the UK could be good news for machinery manufacturers as it will push the supply and demand for specialist equipment.
Load cell weighing systems and vibratory separation equipment can be used to separate the different components of crops.
In addition to creating increased levels of biofuel, UK-based production would also generate more animal feed, a side product of the crop, which would help drive down the cost for farmers.