European Biodiesel Board Slams EU Thinking on Biofuel Land Use Impacts

(Argus Media) Europe's biodiesel producers have commissioned an independent review of a policy document on biodiesel's indirect effects on land use change, which the European Biodiesel Board (EBB) maintains has skewed the European Commission's thinking on the subject to the detriment of the European biodiesel industry.

The commission has yet to define its methodology for gauging the possibility that diverting additional land to agriculture to feed biofuels demand could be increasing carbon emissions, an issue commonly referred to by the acronym ILUC. But several reports commissioned by the EU, which were subsequently leaked, have suggested incorporating ILUC into carbon calculation methodologies could have a negative impact on biodiesel made from virgin vegetable oils.

The EBB said that it is “deeply concerned” that the commission could be relying heavily on a recent report into ILUC by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), which it said has been researched using a flawed methodology. READ MORE