Feedback EU presents report at the European Biogas Conference

22 October 2024. The alarm sets off early. I check my emails and open Euractiv’s Agri-Food morning newsletter.“EU biomethane target ‘a curse’“, it says in the title. And my tiredness disappears immediately. 

Euractiv Agri-Food Brief, 22 October 2024 

Launching a new report is always a big moment. It’s the ‘grande finale’ after months full of strategy discussions, researching, editing, media work, and most of all great teamwork. 

But this time, an extra element of excitement came into play, as Feedback EU is about to present its newest report “Biomethane from manure: a curse, not a cure“ at the European Biogas Conference.  

Organised by the industry every year in Brussels, it is not only the most prominent platform to discuss the future of biogas and biomethane in Europe. As tickets cost almost 1000 euros, it is also an exclusive space that in most cases makes it impossible for civil society organisations to participate and bring in their perspective. 

But this year is different. The European Biogas Association has accepted our proposal to present our newest report at the morning plenary “The future of agriculture, today. Resilience, Sustainability and Food Security“.  

In front of more than 700 guests, during her speech our researcher and author of the report, Francesca Magnolo, highlights key concerns about the current and planned upscale of biomethane from manure, stressing that it:

🔸Creates (financial and regulatory) incentives to maintain or expand livestock production, when a drastic reduction in both production and consumption is essential to meet the EU’s environmental and public health goals and keep global warming below 1.5°
🔸Replaces a natural gas dependency with an animal feed dependency sourced from other continents, especially in the Global South, transforming animal feed into energy crops. This shift threatens the EU’s strategic autonomy and perpetuates neo-colonial forms of extractivism.
🔸Contradicts key EU policies, such as the EU Nature Restoration Law and the Deforestation-free products Regulation.
🔸Worsens power imbalances by increasing competition for land and driving up rental costs.  

Naturally, not everyone in the conference hall agrees with our concerns. I can hear it bubbling more and more in the rows of seats behind me, with people starting to debate with each other. 

After her presentation, Francesca Magnolo joins a constructive discussion with Connie Miller (FAO); Gaelle Marion (EU Commission), Diana Lenzi (Farming for Future Foundation), and Laurence Molke (Cycle0). As the audience also asks questions about our report, we have already achieved one thing: our concerns are being discussed at the centre of this conference! 

Our intervention and main policy recommendation, to end incentives to manure as biomethane feedstock, is then also displayed in the visual summary of the plenary: 

And also after our participation in the morning plenary session and during the entire two-day conference, we achieve exactly that: a debate. Again and again, people approach us and congratulate Francesca Magnolo on her speech. We hear from a biogas association that acknowledges a reduction in animal farming in its country, and has already significantly reduced its projected use of manure as a feedstock. We hear from biogas producers who reflect the origin of their feedstocks, and rather chose truly sustainable smaller scale options (horse straw & poop!). But we also engage in controversial discussions with fossil companies such as Repsol who are now heavily investing in biomethane from manure to “green” their business. Here, it becomes dramatically clear that those companies simply do not (want to) have a clue what the current harmful impact of the agricultural system is – and that biomethane will not solve the damage that intensive factory farming is causing every single day.  

But there is no time for frustration – the next dialogue partner is already waiting! And it again provides us extra motivation to keep exposing those harmful business models and the destructive relations between industrial meat consumption, biomethane production, and the health of our soils.  

After two days, I am exhausted. But most of all, I am glad that we attempted this adventure, including many encounters and contacts that we would otherwise never have made and reached with our report & evidence.  

And one thing is certain: our journey to “burst the biomethane bubble” – as part of a great coalition of inspiring organisations – continues! 

📸 credits : Gleamlight / Philippe Molitor