Meloni-Backed Biofuels Project Under Scrutiny Following New Investigation

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Investigation by SourceMaterial and Politico, supported by data from T&E, into Eni’s publicly-backed Kenyan biofuels project, shows that it is struggling to deliver on its promise to produce non-edible food crops on poor quality land.

An investigation carried out by SourceMaterial and Politico, with support from T&E data, shows that an Italian government biofuels project in Kenya is potentially harming local farmers and threatening food security. The investigation into Eni’s flagship project raises doubts as to whether non-edible biofuel crops can really be scaled sustainably, says T&E.

In 2024, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Italian Climate Fund announced a $210 million investment in Eni’s Kenyan subsidiaries to expand the production and processing of non-edible biofuel crops. Eni claimed this would support the decarbonisation of the global transport industry and the livelihoods of up to 200,000 small-scale Kenyan oilseed farmers.

Yet, trade records assessed by T&E show that Eni imported significant amounts of rapeseed from South Africa into its Kenyan subsidiaries¹. Customs records then appear to indicate that much of the rapeseed oil is re-exported to Italy, which could account for up to 80% of all of Eni’s exports from Kenya to its refineries in Gela and Venice in 2025. Eni disputes this, claiming that it is in fact 40%.

The investigation carried out by SourceMaterial and Politico also finds that farmers were encouraged to grow castor beans, only to be abandoned by the middlemen that had recruited them on Eni’s behalf. They claim to be left with a useless, inedible crop which they had planted instead of maize. In interviews, SourceMaterial heard claims from farmers that planting castor instead of maize had left families without enough to eat. According to Valerio Bini, a University of Milan professor who interviewed 50 farmers in Eni’s project in May 2025, virtually all had replaced food crops with castor. This is particularly worrying in the context of the current global food crisis, says T&E.

Carlo Tritto, fuels expert at T&E, said: “Eni’s biofuel project in Kenya was supposed to show that biofuels can be scaled sustainably without burning food crops. But Eni appears to be relying on imported rapeseed, despite promising to produce non-edible crops grown locally on poor quality land. Food crop biofuels deliver limited climate benefits and pose land use change risks. Worryingly, crop biofuels also put pressure on global food supplies, which are under significant strain as a result of the war in the Middle East. Having received vast amounts of public climate funding, this is the exact opposite of what the project is supposed to achieve. Biofuels are a key part of Eni’s business model and the Italian government’s strategy to keep the combustion engine alive. These findings raise serious doubts over the potential of biofuels as a sustainable alternative.”

Eni is a major proponent of biofuels and has committed to expanding its biorefining capacity. Biofuels are also a big part of the Italian government’s plans to decarbonise transport and are one of the main arguments behind the government’s opposition to the European Green Deal, where it calls for ‘technological neutrality’ as an alternative to electrification in the auto sector. In recent weeks, another investigation by SourceMaterial revealed that an ISCC-certified Indonesian exporter — the same certification system used in Kenya – has come under scrutiny in an investigation into fraud. This company under investigation is alleged to have supplied major European energy companies, including Eni, with mislabelled virgin palm oil, highlighting the major flaws in third-party verification schemes.

Note to editors

¹ Eni responded by saying that rapeseed imported in Kenya has been cultivated in South Africa from traceable farms on severely degraded land. T&E has not been able to verify this, as it has not been made public and the supplier, Southern Oils, does not appear to advertise that its crops are grown specifically on degraded land.

² T&E’s research into Eni’s Kenya project was limited to assessing trade volumes. You can read the full report here, which includes detailed information on the methodology as well as Eni’s full reply.

³ SourceMaterial and Politico carried out a separate investigation where they cite T&E’s figures but their investigation also includes field research, including interviews. You can see their full investigation here.

Article from T&E.