Brussels, 14/04/2015 (Agence Europe) - A further step was taken in Brussels on Tuesday 14 April towards reform of EU biofuels policy that will ensure greater sustainability for biofuels.
The European Parliament environment committee, which is chaired by Giovanni La Via (EPP, Italy), gave its approval by a wide majority (51 votes for, 12 against and 1 abstention), though much to the chagrin of the Greens/EFA, to the trialogue agreement of 1 April on proposals to amend the directives on fuel quality (98/70/EC) and renewable energy (2009/28/EC) so as to encourage more sustainable biofuels, in the interest of developing countries and the climate (see EUROPE 11289).
The draft directive seeks to put a cap, by 2020, on the use of agro-fuels in transport, to speed up production of advanced biofuels from new sources such as seaweed and waste, which do not compete with food production, and to take account of ILUC (indirect land-use change) factors in calculating greenhouse gas emissions (GGEs) in the production of first generation land-based biofuels.
The main points of the agreement: - while current legislation requires member states to ensure that renewable energy accounts for at least 10% of energy consumption in transport by 2020, the agreement approved states that first-generation biofuels should account for up to 7% in transport; - for the first time, biofuel suppliers and the Commission will be required to report annually on indirect greenhouse gas emissions, thereby providing greater clarity on the impact of biofuels made from agricultural crops; - the member states will be encouraged to set an indicative target of 0.5% for the share of energy to be produced from advanced biofuels, while giving due regard to safeguards to ensure these biofuels are sustainable. To this end, the text makes reference to the hierarchy of waste treatment options established by the framework directive on waste - an inclusion resulting from the efforts of the Parliament.
The plenary session of the Parliament will now be called on to approve the agreement at the end of April, then it will be for the Council of the EU to do the same, so that the directive may be formally adopted after five years of stormy debate.
Progress certainly, but not enough for NGOs. The European Environmental Bureau (EEB) is pleased that the agreement will see a reduction in the EU target for “land- and water-guzzling biofuels” from 10% to 7% in transport. It regrets, however, that the deal allows an increase of 5% on current levels in biofuel consumption and that it fails to factor in the emissions linked to ILUC in determining which biofuels can be counted towards national biofuels targets and can therefore receive public subsidies - something the European Parliament repeatedly pushed for during the negotiations. The Commission will now need to report on these emissions but EU member states will not have to do anything to actually reduce them, the EEB laments.
“This decision by the EU was long overdue. Land-based biofuels are bad for the climate, for people and for the environment and we should limit their share in our renewable energy mix. The big question now is whether the EU has learnt from its mistake of promoting biofuels despite concerns about their sustainability. It needs to take a close look at how much and which type of bio-energy actually has a role to play in the fight against climate change”, commented Faustine Defossez, EEB's senior agriculture and bio-energy policy officer.
Oxfam is on the same wavelength. It is pleased that the Parliament and the member states have “finally decided to tone down a harmful biofuels policy that has not only contributed to deprive poor people of food and accelerate the climate change it claims to fight”, said Marc-Olivier Herman, an expert in biofuels policy. He added: “However, this new 7% cap on crop-based biofuels can only be a first step. Europe must phase out these fuels completely so they can no longer jeopardize food security and contribute to climate change”.
The main objective has been lost from sight, says bioethanol industry. For ePURE, the association that represents the European renewable ethanol industry, the agreement is far from perfect but it may help restore some much-needed policy certainty to the biofuels market. While acknowledging that the agreement contains some positive aspects, including a proposed 7% cap on conventional biofuels and the recognition of low-ILUC biofuels, and opens the door to the promotion of sustainable biofuels beyond 2020, ePURE believes that the process to close this file has fundamentally lost sight of its overall objective. “The absence of binding targets for advanced biofuels and renewable energy (ethanol) use in petrol, both key measures to differentiate better biofuels, and both supported previously by the European Parliament on several occasions, undermines the core objectives of this reform”, said Robert Wright, secretary general of ePURE. (Aminata Niang)