The European Commission is re-thinking draft rules on reaching the EU's target to boost biofuels amid strong criticism by green campaign groups and development NGOs that the goal could lead to environmental damage and social dislocation. The commission is due on 23 January to publish legislation on the production of biofuels, aimed at promoting the use of these alternatives to oil. In March last year, EU leaders agreed that 10 percent of transport fuels should come from biofuels by 2020, a goal the commission is now turning into concrete legislation. But even before making the legislation public, several expert reports have highlighted the possible negative consequences of the target. Last Friday, a group of 17 NGOs - including Oxfam and Friends of the Earth - sent a letter to EU energy commissioner Andris Piebalgs, asking him to introduce much tougher standards for biofuel production or give up mandatory transport biofuel targets altogether.
The EU has admitted that it failed to foresee problems raised by its policy to encourage motorists in Europe to drive vehicles which run on fuels derived from plants as part of efforts to cut carbon emissions. The European Union's environment chief said the bloc would rethink new draft rules on boosting the production of biofuels amid growing criticism by green campaign groups that the move could lead to rainforest destruction and social dislocation. "We have seen that the environmental problems caused by biofuels and also the social problems are bigger than we thought they were. So we have to move very carefully," Stavros Dimas told the BBC on Monday, Jan. 14. It would be better to miss the target than achieve it by harming the poor or damaging the environment, Dimas said.
The European Union's environment chief said the bloc would rethink new draft rules on boosting the production of biofuels amid growing criticism by green campaign groups that the move could lead to rainforest destruction and social dislocation.
"We have seen that the environmental problems caused by biofuels and also the social problems are bigger than we thought they were. So we have to move very carefully," Stavros Dimas told the BBC on Monday, Jan. 14.
It would be better to miss the target than achieve it by harming the poor or damaging the environment, Dimas said.
"We have seen that the environmental problems caused by biofuels and also the social problems are bigger than we thought they were. So we have to move very carefully,"
I know it sounds quite cynical, but a statement like this would suggest that we should be prepared for an announcement by the British that they were expanding biofuels aggressively.
doing the wrong thing at the worst possible moment is what we're good at. keep to the Fen Causeway
PARIS: In a sign of shifting attitudes toward biofuels, European Union officials are proposing to ban imports of certain fuel crops whose production could do more harm than good in fighting climate change, according to a draft law seen Monday. The proposals, to be unveiled next week, are aimed at enhancing the environmental credentials of biofuels like biodiesel or ethanol to counter concerns that European drivers are playing a role in destroying wetlands, forests and grasslands in areas like Southeast Asia or Latin America each time they fill up their tanks. In its draft, the EU requires that biofuels from crops grown on some kinds of land covered in forest, wetlands and grasslands as of January 2008 should be banned for use in the 27-nation bloc. The commission also would require that biofuels used in Europe should deliver "a minimum level of greenhouse gas savings." The text, which could change before European commissioners meet Jan. 23 to adopt a final version, also emphasizes that areas like rainforests and lands with high levels of biodiversity should not be converted to growing biofuels. At the same time, the EU does not want to abandon biofuels because of the contribution they could still make to increasing Europe's energy independence.
PARIS: In a sign of shifting attitudes toward biofuels, European Union officials are proposing to ban imports of certain fuel crops whose production could do more harm than good in fighting climate change, according to a draft law seen Monday.
The proposals, to be unveiled next week, are aimed at enhancing the environmental credentials of biofuels like biodiesel or ethanol to counter concerns that European drivers are playing a role in destroying wetlands, forests and grasslands in areas like Southeast Asia or Latin America each time they fill up their tanks.
In its draft, the EU requires that biofuels from crops grown on some kinds of land covered in forest, wetlands and grasslands as of January 2008 should be banned for use in the 27-nation bloc. The commission also would require that biofuels used in Europe should deliver "a minimum level of greenhouse gas savings."
The text, which could change before European commissioners meet Jan. 23 to adopt a final version, also emphasizes that areas like rainforests and lands with high levels of biodiversity should not be converted to growing biofuels.
At the same time, the EU does not want to abandon biofuels because of the contribution they could still make to increasing Europe's energy independence.
the EU does not want to abandon biofuels because of the contribution they could still make to increasing Europe's energy independence.
But this isn't going to happen, as we said in our contribution to the Biofuels Consultation eighteen months ago. What they mean by saying it now is that the agro-industry/farm lobby won't be denied its slice of cake (ie subsidies for industry, high prices for farmers).
