Brussels, 10/04/2012 (Agence Europe) - COPA-COGECA (the European farm and farm cooperatives' umbrella group) held a debate last week on the EU's biofuel policies and warned in a press release issued on Wednesday 4 April that “the EU model for calculating the impact of biodiesel on emissions is fundamentally flawed and differs greatly from models and classifications used in the US.”
Gérard Tubéry, Chairman of the COPA-COGECA Working Party on Oilseeds and Oilseed Crops, explained: “In the US, the benefits of canola (Ed: colza or rapeseed) biodiesel in terms of reducing emissions are of high renown.”
The debate at COPA-COGECA follows reports commissioned by the European Commission to examine the impact of change in soil usage on greenhouse gas emissions in connection with the expected demand for biofuel in 2020. Tubéry commented: “It's ludicrous that the reports promote the idea that rapeseed biodiesel is worse than bioethanol. This is not the consensus view at international level. Indeed, the US canola biodiesel is recognised as an advanced biofuel.” (LC/transl.fl)