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4/1/07

Checkbiotech.org: Michael Pragnell : "Without biotechnology C02 and bio fuel targets EU and USA will be impossible to attain - by Markus Städeli

For the complete report in Checkbiotech.org click on this link

Michael Pragnell : "Without biotechnology C02 and bio fuel targets EU and USA will be impossible to attain - by Markus Städeli

Michael Pragnell is not a man to indulge in rhetoric. But when it comes to the issue of bio fuels, the English CEO of the Swiss agrichemical business is suddenly willing to speak his mind: "Without green biotechnology, the C02 and bio fuel targets of the EU and those laid down by the USA will be impossible to attain," Pragnell comments. He adds: "People in Europe too will be obliged to acknowledge that fact."

Next year, Syngenta plans to launch a genetically modified maize called maize amylase. Pragnell promises an efficiency gain in ethanol manufacture. He is not prepared to quantity this gain as yet, because approval of the dossier is still pending with the health authorities. We will have to wait for large scale production of ethanol with the new crops to begin to see just how great the gain in fact is. "The world population is expected to grow from the present figure of 6.5 billion to more than 9 billion in the year 2050. But farmland is a finite resource." In addition, there is competition with the bioethanol producers for the scarce crops. "New technologies are needed to increase yields."

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