Brussels, 25/02/2015 (Agence Europe) - A step was taken in Brussels on Tuesday 24 February in directing the EU towards a policy of more sustainable biofuels that will help both developing countries and the climate.
A large majority (39 to 26, with 4 abstentions) voted in the European Parliament's environment committee to back the draft directive that seeks, by 2020, to cap the use of agri-fuels in transport, to accelerate the shift to production of advanced biofuels which do not compete with food production, and to take account of the ILUC (indirect land-use change) factor in calculating greenhouse gas emissions linked to production of first generation biofuels (see EUROPE 11256).
With their vote, MEPs showed a higher level of ambition than the Council, much to the satisfaction of development and environmental NGOs.
Current legislation requires the member states to ensure that, by 2020, at least 10% of the energy used in transport should come from renewable sources. MEPs, however, want first generation biofuels to be limited to 6% of final energy consumption in transport (the Council wanted a 7% cap, and the initial proposal was for a 5% cap).
To encourage the production of biofuels from seaweed and certain types of waste, MEPs want advanced biofuels to account for at least 1.25% of final energy consumption in transport by 2020.
Rapporteur Nils Torvalds (ALDE, Finland) was granted a mandate to open talks with the Council to try to reach second reading agreement on this draft directive which seeks to amend Directive 2009/28/EC, known as the renewable energy directive, and Directive 98/70/EC on the quality of petrol and diesel fuels.
“This has been an enormously challenging file. It's complicated technically and technologically. I love this kind of political challenge and hope we will take it to a good result in the trialogues”, said a very satisfied Torvalds.
In the view of some MEPs, however, this vote is unrealistic. Angélique Delahaye (EPP, France) was unhappy that “the European Parliament wants to impose on the member states far too high a level of new generation biofuels in the 10% target for renewable energy in transport”.
NGOs delighted. Development NGO ActionAid, on the other hand, hailed the vote as “an improvement compared to the poor text adopted by the member states last May”. It calls on the rapporteur to “set the bar high when negotiating the final text, to ensure that the detrimental impacts of the current policy on people living in poverty across the world are stopped”. Oxfam is on the same page, as using agricultural land to grow biofuels reduces the surface area available for food crops. The European Environmental Bureau (EEB) also welcomes the clear acknowledgement by MEPs that “the harm caused by some biofuels and agreed that emissions resulting from the indirect land use changes caused by them can no longer be ignored”. (Translation from the original French version)