European Policy on Biofuels Is Ill-founded and Flawed, It Should Be Made Good

by Benjamin Lammert (Green Energy Platform/EurActiv) A decade ago the European Commission decided to exclude conventional biofuels from contributing to future policy on renewable energy, climate and agriculture, writes Benjamin Lammert.

The matter is as important today as it was then because domestic crop biofuels are still the single biggest contributor to reducing oil consumption in the transport sector, they bring over €6 billion in farm incomes and they greatly reduce imports of soy meal from the Americas.

A principle of European policy making is that it must be based on reason, evidence and the analysis of impacts. In this case there was no reason or analysis presented. Indeed, if one examines the legislative process over the period, one notes that the Commission limits its explanations to the quotation of a few cursory statements it had itself issued previously.

There also is ten years of fresh new information on the benefits and impacts of European crop biofuels on carbon emissions in transport, on farm incomes, food and feed markets, on jobs and on land use – all of it positive.

The European Commission does recognise these facts in the recently published Renewable Energy Progress Report, where its assessment is very clear in asserting the sustainability of biofuels produced from EU feedstock.

“In recent years, no correlation has been observed between food prices and biofuel demand. Any impact on food prices is small compared to other dynamics in the global food market. Most member states did not observe any impacts on prices due to increased bioenergy demand within their countries.”

“In their Progress Reports, most member states point to limited cultivation of feedstock used in biofuel production compared to total agricultural activities, and consider therefore that associated environmental impacts are low. Several Member States point out that all agricultural production is regulated with respect to environmental impacts and therefore consider that no more impacts should be expected from biofuel crop production than from other crop production.”

Given the unreasoned manner in which the biofuels policy was developed in the last decade, and in the light of the compelling need for bigger and better policy for 2030, it is incumbent on the European Commission to assess conventional biofuels correctly this time, comparing the actual benefits and impacts with whatever its concerns were for them in the past, and to establish a proper evidential basis for its policy on them going forward. It is incumbent on climate policy makers, farmers, energy providers and citizens to expect it. READ MORE