U-turn on crop-based biofuels by EU

Date: 19/9/2012

A limit is to be placed on crop-based biofuels, according to the European Commission, which is reversing its policy on adopting the technology.

Previously a target of sourcing ten per cent of energy for transport from sustainable methods had been based mainly on obtaining biofuel from wheat and rapeseed.

Instead it has been decided that such fuels should be capped at five per cent as they may actually increase emissions and prevent agricultural land from being used for food production.

Connie Hedegaard, EU Climate Change Commissioner and Guenther Oettinger, Energy Commissioner, released a joint statement on the matter.

It said: "It is wrong to believe that we are pushing food-based biofuels. In our upcoming proposal for new legislation, we do exactly the contrary: we limit them to the current consumption level, that is five per cent up to 2020."

As an alternative it is thought that policy will push for biofuels to favour non-food feedstocks instead, which come in the form of waste or residual agricultural matter such as straw.

The statement said: "These new types of biofuels are not in competition with food, nor do they require additional land."

Member states and the European Parliament will have to approve the changes in order for them to go ahead, after the commissioners' findings are published in October.

The US is further ahead than Europe with advanced biofuels, which are the non food-based alternative and already has targets in place to encourage their use.

An example of how the transport industry is making the most of this across the Atlantic is a recent deal which was signed between Audi and a new firm called Joule.

Joule is looking into producing ethanol to be used as a fuel from sunlight and waste carbon dioxide.

Reiner Mangold, Head of Environmental Product at Audi, said: "Joule and the fuels it is developing can ultimately enable sustainable mobility, as its highly-efficient process consumes waste CO2 emissions, avoids depletion of natural resources and doesn't require agricultural feedstock or arable land.

"It is the ideal sustainable fuel platform for Audi to support."

Posted by Nick Anderson

International Transport News and Sustainable Transport News