In early October 2025, the European Bioeconomy Alliance and the German nova Institute published a joint expert paper. Their message is clear: using arable crops like grains, sugar, and oilseeds for energy and materials offers Europe benefits for food security, biodiversity, agriculture, and the climate.
The European Commission is developing a new strategy for the bioeconomy. The goal is to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and increase strategic autonomy. According to the Nova Institute, there are sufficient biomass flows in the EU to achieve this ambition. The authors argue that many concerns about competition with food are not based on the data. They call the debate often emotional and political, and less grounded in the functioning of the global food system.
First generation crops in the European mix
The study points to four effects when agricultural crops are diverted from food to fuels, chemicals, and materials. Farmers gain more sales channels. This creates stability and room for investment in innovation, as income is less dependent on a single market.
There's another factor that matters for food security. Biofuel and biochemical processes generate protein-rich residual flows that are crucial in the feed chain. Furthermore, crops remain widely available and scalable within Europe. In times of crisis, these crops serve as emergency supplies, as they can be returned to the food chain if necessary.
The climate paragraph is equally direct. Anyone who wants to decarbonize European industry will need biomass in addition to recycling and CO2 reuse. Second-generation streams such as woody waste streams are valuable, but first-generation crops are often cheaper and can be scaled up more quickly. This increases the likelihood that new biobased factories will actually achieve significant volume.
According to the authors, biodiversity is also not compromised by careful consideration of land use. Food crops provide a significant amount of starch, sugar, and vegetable oil per hectare. Higher yields per hectare can reduce the total land use and thus free up more land for nature, provided the right conditions are in place.
What if Europe only focuses on second generation
The paper calculates the consequences of biobased chemistry and fuels being run exclusively on sugars from lignocellulose. More land is then required for the same amount of fermentable sugars. Protein supply from byproducts falls. An emergency supply is lacking, because residual flows and woody crops are not food. Moreover, sugars from second-generation crops are two to three times more expensive than sugars from first-generation crops. The authors conclude that scaling up in the short term is therefore unlikely.
Debate based on facts
The report encourages us to remove the normative weight from the discussion and focus on the facts. Anyone who wants to wean European industry off fossil fuels cannot avoid pragmatism. First-generation and second-generation feedstocks complement each other. The question is not if, but where and how to use which electricity, taking into account farmers' income, protein balance, nature, and affordability. This report outlines concrete starting points for this and calls for follow-up with figures per region, crop, and chain.
Link to the report: bioeconomyalliance.eu
