EU under pressure to finalise deal on biofuel production

Drought-stricken crops and record high grain prices have strengthened critics of the EU biofuel industry, adding fears of a food crisis to their claims that it does not ultimately reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

The anxiety adds to pressure on the European Commission to forge a deal to help ensure biofuels do not clash with food production or the environment.

Such an agreement would remove some of the uncertainty over the multibillion-euro bioenergy industry.