Brussels, 12/09/2013 (Agence Europe) - The Brazilian sugarcane industry welcomes the support given by MEPs to measures for boosting the production of advanced biofuel production.
UNICA, the Brazilian sugarcane industry association, welcomed the European Parliament's vote on Wednesday 11 September in favour of new rules for redirecting EU policy on biofuels through amendments to the renewables and fuel quality directives, taking into account indirect land use change (ILUC) and making the sustainability criteria of green fuels tougher. “UNICA very much appreciates the efforts over the past several months of members of the European Parliament to push for the consumption of biofuels that have the highest environmental credentials and technical performance”, including those made from bagasse and straw, the organisation states in a press release.
On Wednesday, the European Parliament voted in favour of capping the use of first generation food-based green fuels at 6% of fuel consumption in the EU transport sector by 2020. The EU has to keep to a binding 10% target of green fuels to comply with the renewables directive. A minimum objective of 2.5% was fixed for advanced biofuels such as algae, bagasse (cane fibre residue) and straw.
The minimum objective allocated to bagasse is, in the eyes of the Brazilian industry, “a step in the right direction”. UNICA also applauds the European Parliament's rejection of proposals that would have applied protectionist measures and made it difficult, if not impossible, for sustainable, EU-compliant biofuels produced in non-European nations to be legally counted toward meeting EU renewable energy and fuel quality requirements.
Brazilian ethanol producers also hail the Parliament's endorsement of a dedicated target of at least 7.5% of renewable energy in the final consumption of energy in transport in petrol in 2020, of which 8% should be from biofuel produced from sugars and starch crops. “This sub-target recognises the important contribution that ethanol has in helping Europe meet its energy security and climate change abatement goals”, the UNICA states.
The association also considers as “unfortunate” that the Parliament gave into biofuel critics' pleas to put an “arbitrary cap” on the use of all food-based biofuels. “A cap ignores important differences between conventional biofuels' environmental performance. It is also vulnerable to being de facto discriminatory and breaching World Trade Organisation rules”, the association underlines, in the hope that member states will change its approach and reject the cap. (EH/transl.jl)