European Bioeconomy Alliance Report Confirms Benefits Of Using First-Generation Biomass For Food, Fuels, And Chemicals In Europe

The European Bioeconomy Alliance (EUBA) announced on October 1, 2025, the release of an expert paper from the nova-Institute entitled "Benefits of Using First-Generation Biomass for Food, Fuels, Chemicals and Derived Materials in Europe: Science-based Argumentation Paper." According to EUBA's October 1, 2025, press release, using first-generation agricultural biomass (i.e., crops like cereals, sugar, and oil plants) to produce biobased energy and materials in Europe results in important benefits for food security, biodiversity, agriculture, and climate-change mitigation. The press release states that the research highlights the following key benefits to the European Union (EU) from the use of biomass for non-food applications such as fuels, chemicals, and materials:

• Enhancing a resilient and competitive EU agriculture: Selling crops to multiple markets gives farmers greater flexibility and reduces their vulnerability to price fluctuations in any single sector; it also encourages investment in innovation and sustainable practices, as farmers can diversify their income and adapt to changes in the market;

• Increased food security: Using first-generation biomass for non-food applications strengthens food security in several important ways. This includes improved market stability through delivering protein-rich by-products, providing good availability of food crops, and long-term scalability for starch, sugar, and oil crops in the EU, all while providing an emergency food reserve in times of crisis;

• Supporting climate change mitigation: To defossilize European industry — critical for net-zero targets in chemical and fuel sectors — the use of first-generation biomass is indispensable. Although second-generation biomass is widely accepted, first-generation biomass can usually be produced at lower cost and scaled up more easily and significantly; and

• Supporting biodiversity protection: Food crops are the most efficient use of land for producing starch, sugar, and plant oils; maximizing the productivity of each hectare reduces the total land area required for agriculture, leaving more space for nature and biodiversity protection.

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