Is the recent boom of bio-energy production a threat to the livestock industry?

After a comparatively slow growth in the 1980s and 1990s, bio-energy production entered a phase of rapid increase at the beginning of this decade. Considerable regional differences can be observed. Bio-ethanol is mainly produced in Brazil and the United States, but European countries focus on bio-diesel. The recent boom in bio-energy production was caused by the postulated effects of climate change until the end of the 21st century, the resulting economic impacts and by political considerations that aim to reduce the dependence of industrialised countries on crude oil imports. The high demand of arable land for the production of bio-energy crops raises the question of what impact this will have on the development of feed production and feed prices as well as on food costs. In particular, the development in the United States and the EU have to be monitored carefully as existing energy legislation in the United States or recent decisions of the EU Council will inevitably result in a shortage of feed components and increasing feed costs. In Germany, the Renewable Energies Act (Erneuerbare Energien Gesetz) initiated a boom it? biogas production. In the centres of livestock and poultry production, the primary use of land conflicts can be observed as the rapidly increasing demand for corn silage has led to higher land prices and an increase in the cost of rented land. This could result in financial problems for those biogas facilities, which depend essentially on the purchase of corn silage or on rented land for the application of biogas slurry. This paper shows that in a phase of rapid growth, it will be necessary to consider not only the positive but also the foreseeable negative impacts.