Biofuels from waste and residues to count double towards EU target
Wed 17 February 2010
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Biofuels from waste and residues will count double compared to other biofuels in the EU's efforts to meet a 10% target for renewable fuels use in transport by 2020 according to draft EC guidance which has been leaked by Friends of the Earth. Meanwhile, a new report published by Action Aid - 'Meals per Gallon' - says that biofuels are unlikely to be a solution to climate change or energy security but are likely to contribute to the food and hunger crisis.
The draft EC guidance deals with sustainability criteria and counting rules for biofuels. Friends of the Earth is concerned over the document's chapter on sustainability criteria and particularly the proposed definition of palm oil plantations.
Environmental organisations fear the guidance, if brought into effect, would lead to more greenhouse gases as a result of biofuel production. Brussels-based NGO T&E says allowing biofuels made from waste to count double compared to other biofuels could cause indirect land-use changes with serious environmental impacts. In the case of animal fat, this would create a powerful incentive to divert use from cosmetics manufacturing to biofuels production, which in turn would cause the cosmetics industry to use more palm oil, which itself is a cause of deforestation.
FoE is also concerned about palm oil, in particular the Commission’s draft definitions for palm oil plantations. It says the Commission is proposing to define plantations as 'continuously forested areas', allowing them to meet criteria for sustainable biofuel sourcing, despite the fact that they are the primary cause of rainforest loss in Malaysia and Indonesia.
FoE's concerns have been informed by a recent report on the indirect effects of 'wastes' used for biofuels published by the Renewable Fuels Agency.
The Commission’s proposal to exclude any installation that had biofuels production before January 2008 from an obligation to meet sustainability criteria is also controversial, as huge volumes of biofuels could be exempted as a result, causing more emissions.
T&E says that the EU executive has recently received new scientific reports casting a new negative light on biofuels due to their indirect impact on land use (ILUC), but has not made them public. The group has made a legal request to the Commission for the documents, but it has so far taken more than three-times the statutory 30 days to provide them.
"These reports need to be released so the public can see the full facts," said T&E campaigner Nusa Urbancic. "What is especially worrying is that we are seeing a pattern of manipulation of the science."
Commission officials said their research included hundreds of documents, making it difficult to meet T&E's request. In a letter to an energy official seen by Reuters news agency, a senior agriculture official is quoted as saying: "An unguided use of ILUC would kill biofuels in the EU." (See also EurActiv article "Controversy mounts over EU biofuels fall-out")
Meanwhile, a report published by Action Aid is highly critical of European policy on biofuels. It says that, far from helping reduce climate change and improve energy security, biofuels policy will be an important contributor to rising food prices and will increase hunger.
Action Aid says that industrial biofuels are currently made from maize, wheat, sugar cane and oil seeds such as palm oil, soy and rapeseed. The rapidly rising demand for crops for fuel has put them into competition with those grown for food, driving food prices higher and affecting what and how much people eat in developing countries. This is a significant issue in a world where a billion people are already going hungry.
Action Aid says that the EU will meet most of its commitment to the 10% biofuels target through industrial biofuels.Consumption of industrial biofuels in the EU will jump four-fold, it says, and as much as two-thirds are likely to be imported, the majority from developing countries.
Action Aid held an event in London to coincide with the launch of the report. The Great Biofuels Debate included contributions from a Bolivian Human Rights Campaigner, an academic from Edinburgh University and Greg Archer, Managing Director of the LowCVP.
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