Little environmental benefit seen in biodiesel

The farming lobby has received a setback in its demands for tax breaks to promote the production of biofuels on surplus agricultural land. An official study has concluded that large-scale production of biodiesel would require heavy subsidies and result in very small reductions in CO₂ emissions from vehicles, and may give rise to higher emissions of other pollutants and exacerbate nitrate leaching from farm land.¹