Biofuel debate a political hot potato as EU renewable energy law nears home...
Talks over how to decarbonise the EU's transport fleet are heating up. As policymakers prepare the bloc's renewable energy targets for 2030, part of the debate has crystallised around the role of...
View ArticleA sticky matter: Sugar molasses dent EU’s ambitions on advanced biofuels
Sugar molasses, which the European Commission sees as "advanced" biofuel, present many of the same problems as conventional biofuels – including a potential increase in food prices and land competition...
View ArticleGreen MEP: Sustainability criteria will distinguish ‘good’ and ‘bad’ biofuels
Sustainability criteria are needed to make a clear distinction between “bad” biofuels like palm oil and “good” ones like some ethanol, MEP Bas Eickhout told EURACTIV in an interview.
View ArticleMEP: ‘Sustainable’ biofuels and e-mobility both needed in post-2020 EU transport
If the EU intends to meet its climate obligations under the Paris Agreement, then it should favour both “sustainable” biofuels and electric cars in post-2020 transport, MEP Seán Kelly told EURACTIV in...
View ArticleUN partners with ethanol producers to boost biofuels at COP23
The UN’s climate change agency has joined forces with a European bioethanol company to promote the use of biofuels in transport, as global leaders prepare for the COP23 climate conference in Bonn in...
View ArticleHungary says bioethanol phase-out will damage its agricultural economy
The European Commission’s proposal to gradually phase-out first generation biofuels by 2030 will have a “major” negative impact on Hungary’s rural development, the ministry of agriculture told...
View ArticleEU palm oil policies are undermining Europe’s goals in South-East Asia
None of the palm oil producing governments have yet made any statement in the European media about the EU's plan to ban biofuels from palm oil. This op-ed by Malaysia's Datuk Seri Mah Siew Keong...
View ArticleCommission’s biofuels proposal may kill future investment, industry warns
The biofuels industry has hit out at the European Commission’s proposal to reduce the cap on crop-based biofuels in the EU’s transport fuel mix, saying it would undermine the EU executive’s renewable...
View ArticleMEPs raise ambition on transport with ‘sustainable’ biofuels
Contrary to the European Commission's initial proposal, the European Parliament voted on Tuesday (28 November) to increase targets for sustainable energy and reintroduce a sub-target for transport, by...
View ArticleScientists demand end to crop-based biofuels
A group of 177 Dutch scientist have signed a letter urging the Netherlands to back a complete phase-out of crop-based biofuels at European level, calling them a “false solution to climate problems”.
View ArticleSocialists, EPP and ALDE propose to cap biofuels shares at 2017 level, end...
Lawmakers from the European Parliament's three major political families reached on 10 January a compromise to cap the level of crop-based biofuels at the level that each member state reached in 2017...
View ArticleDivision reigns as Parliament gears up for critical biofuels vote
The European Parliament is due to adopt the recast of the Renewable Energy Directive at its plenary session in Strasbourg on Wednesday (17 January). France is trying to undermine the agreement to...
View ArticleAdvanced biofuels ‘not yet viable’, industry study warns
Less than 1% of projected capacity for advanced biofuel production worldwide has become reality, according to ethanol industry researchers who warned policymakers against placing too much hope in the...
View ArticleFarmers defend biofuels as part of EU’s upcoming ‘protein strategy’
There is a need to maintain the EU's main source of protein feed that are the co-product of biofuels, the European farmers association Copa-Cogeca told EURACTIV.com as the Commission announced its...
View ArticleWhat member states say about biofuels in transport
On 27 February 2018, the first informal trilogue on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources will take place in Brussels. Member states reached a general agreement on the Renewable...
View ArticleRED II – Europe’s €25 billion blunder
The Commission’s ‘strategy’ is to phase out conventional biofuels in the hope that they will miraculously be replaced by ‘advanced’ biofuels in Europe’s transport energy mix isn’t backed by science or...
View ArticleDebate on costs of advanced biofuels heats up
The debate on the technologies available to produce second-generation biofuels, and their related costs, is heating up in Brussels amid disagreement over the European Commission’s estimates.
View ArticleDouble-counted renewables will increase dependency on fossil fuels
The EU Council's proposal for double or even multiple counting of advanced biofuels and green electricity consumption will increase Europe's dependency on fossil fuels to cover "real" energy needs,...
View ArticleBiofuels: ‘Waste and residues’ need clear criteria to avoid system’s misuse
The criteria for "waste and residues" should be so defined clearly in the EU legislation that the system cannot be misused and allowed to endanger sustainability, Robert Spišák told EURACTIV.com in a...
View ArticleStraw is not waste but co-product, EU farmers tell Commission
The EU farmers’ association claims that straw is an agricultural co-product and not a waste, whereas the European Commission has listed it as waste to produce “advanced biofuel” to decarbonise the...
View Article
