Is fuel and energy from farmland really a sustainable solution to the climate crisis? Let’s do the math: The average rapeseed yield per 2,000 square meters in the European Union is around 650 kilograms. That can be used to produce 272 liters of diesel. With fuel consumption of about 7 liters per 100 kilometers, that would allow us to drive about 3,900 kilometers—just under a round trip from Brussels to Lisbon. That would use up our farmland for an entire year. There would be nothing left to eat, except for the pressed rapeseed cake, which is used as animal feed. Incidentally, a car in the EU drives an average of 10,000 kilometers per year.
In Germany, nearly one-fifth of all arable land is used for the production of biofuel and energy in biogas plants. If Germany’s cars consumed just one liter less of fuel per 100 kilometers, the savings would in any case exceed the total revenue generated by the fuel and biogas produced from that farmland. [26]
In the European Union, biofuel production has increased dramatically in recent years. It is expected to peak at 25 billion liters in the coming years. [27]
