A new study by SRI Consulting shows that rapeseed grown on dedicated farmland and processed into biodiesel would emit “nearly the same amount of greenhouse gas emissions (as carbon dioxide equivalents) per kilometer driven, as does conventional diesel”. It has therefore, a “weak GHG balance”. (The “GHG balance” (net environmental emissions factor), together with “carbon balance” (net energy yield factor) are important indices for evaluating effectiveness of biofuels in mitigating climate change). The study also claims that if the rapeseed plantation was converted into a tree plantation, petroleum diesel would emit only a third of the carbon dioxide equivalent emissions as biodiesel”. Implications of this finding on the EU Biofuels Directive were also mentioned.

Biopact comments that the European biodiesel industry would dispute its findings, considering the following: (1) results of studies from independent academic institutions which report strong GHG balance for rapeseed biodiesel, (2) the study did not account for greenhouse gas emissions that can be avoided due to the use of biodiesel byproducts as animal feed or fuel, (3) recent scientific studies which indicate that “there is no consensus yet” as to the degree of how different types of forest trees grown in mid-latitudes can contribute atmospheric carbon dioxide removal..