Expected changes in land usage due to the application of bio-fuels in Hungary

Vida, Adrienn – Baksa, Adrienn

Keywords: land usage, bio-fuels, climate change, environmental burden, sustainable farming

Burgeoning energy usage, world population and starvation are problems, which have not been ameliorated for decades but are exacerbated by climate change and consequent extreme weather conditions. The present world economic crisis still further aggravates their resolution.
The European Union, who played the role of a catalyst in increasing the proportion of renewable energy resources, searched from the beginning of the 80’s for a solution for the use of surplus arable land crops accumulated due to overproduction. As time went by communal support increasingly placed non-food crops to the forefront of production, then directives and market measures prepared and secured a place for the renewable energy carrier referred as biomass among other commonly used energy carriers. This process was hastened by rapidly rising fossil fuels prices that lead to increases in the proportion of bio-fuel content of fuels bringing about an unexpected rise in demand for bio-fuels.
Concerning agro-fuels, however, more and more questions arise relating not only to emissions of harmful substances into the atmosphere and economy of production but also to the sustainable use of limitedly available agricultural land for bio-fuels production.
Although the operation of present Hungarian bio-fuels market suffers from deficiencies it is not irrelevant to examine the changes in land usage and consequences due to bio-fuel production. Based on available data the area of cultivated land is not expected to alter significantly, but for the sake of food supply it is of paramount importance that any structural change in land usage must still secure human and animal food supply as well as the row materials for the energy industry that enhances farmers’ competitiveness, increases their living standard and helps country people to stay in the countryside.

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