Brussels, 14/11/2014 (Agence Europe) - A study published on Wednesday 12 November by Ecofys, the sustainable energy consultants, concludes that the European Commission underestimates the greenhouse gas savings linked to using biofuels.
The Ecofys study shows that the growing use of shale gas (for which the carbon balance is more damaging than traditional fossil fuels) makes biofuels increasingly interesting in terms of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The savings linked to biofuels should therefore be re-evaluated by 80% in comparison with the level currently taken into account by the Commission.
In the view of the industrial associations representing the European biodiesel sector - the European Biodiesel Board (EBB), the European Oilseed Alliance (EOA) and the European Vegetable Oil and Protein-meal Industry (FEDIOL) - this re-evaluation is all the more important as the account taken of indirect land-use change (ILUC) underestimates, in roughly the same order of magnitude, the results of biofuels.
The Brazilian sugarcane industry association (Unica) also welcomes this study and says it hopes the Commission will take account of these new data, as well as the European Council's call for an assessment of the instruments for renewables in transport, as part of the 2030 framework. (EH)