Palm Oil’s Loss May Be U.S. Soybean Gain in EU Biofuel Rule (1)

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January 24, 2019

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by Stephen Gardner (Bloomberg) European Union must propose rule on biofuel crops that cause deforestation or other land-use change by Feb. 1; Palm oil would be phased out as biofuel feedstock in EU, U.S. soybean farmers could benefit -- U.S. soybean companies could be the big winners if an upcoming European Union rule on sustainable biofuels goes through.

The rule, which the European Commission—the EU’s executive arm—is required to propose by Feb. 1, would define which feedstocks used in biofuel production are sustainable in terms of forest clearance and other land-use changes.

Feedstocks identified as causing high levels of indirect land-use change (ILUC) will be capped and wouldn’t count toward EU biofuels targets after 2030.

The main feedstock in the line of fire is palm oil from Indonesia or Malaysia, where it is linked to widespread clearance of tropical forests to make way for plantations.

It is “pretty sure” that palm oil producers will lose out under the rule, “basically because of Indonesia, where there is tremendous land-use change,” Gernot Klepper, senior researcher and head of environment and natural resources research at Germany’s Kiel Institute for the World Economy, told Bloomberg Environment.

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The requirement for an EU ILUC rule was triggered by a law on renewable energy, finalized last December, stipulating that the EU must meet at least 32 percent of its energy needs from renewable sources by 2030.

The law also specifies that by 2030, 14 percent of transportation fuel consumed in the EU must come from renewable sources, including liquid biofuels and biogas.

To prevent environmental damage, the law also requires specific standards for low- and high-ILUC biofuel feedstocks, with the amount of biofuel from high-ILUC feedstocks capped at 2019 levels and then phased out through 2030.

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“We are already decreasing the use of palm oil, progressively substituting it with waste residues and used cooking oil, with the aim of phasing it out completely,” said a spokesman in Rome for oil and gas company Eni SpA.

“That said, the availability of alternative feedstock is limited for the time being, which means that fully phasing out palm oil will only be possible once alternative feedstock become easily available. That is why the EU rules should not be equivalent to a “hidden ban” by being very difficult to implement or limited to very particular cases,” he added in a Jan. 22 email.

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Palm oil makes up about a third of the content of biodiesel in the EU, with the rest from rapeseed oil, soybean oil, and sunflower oil.

Malaysia and Indonesia have pushed back against possible limitations on EU palm oil imports. They declined to take part in a November 2018 workshop with EU representatives and said an EU indirect land-use change rule that effectively prohibits palm oil in biofuel could violate World Trade Organization rules and trigger retaliation.

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The rule could have limited initial effects, because EU producers will continue to process palm oil for food and chemical use, according to Nathalie Lecocq, director general of FEDIOL in Brussels.

The indirect land-use change rule “could lead to an increase of palm oil use in biodiesel in 2019, because this will be the reference year for its capping,” Lecocq said. But the “consequences are difficult to anticipate to the full,” she added.

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There is some evidence the move is already working in terms of the soybean oil in biodiesel in the EU: A Belgian study that a group of nonprofit organizations released Jan. 21 found that the amount of soy oil in biodiesel in Belgium increased tenfold in 2018, while the amount of palm oil dropped.

The European Commission has started a process to recognize U.S. soybeans as a sustainable feedstock for EU biofuels.

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From the point of view of limiting deforestation related to palm oil, the EU ILUC rule might make little practical difference, according to Anja Lillegraven, Indonesia team leader at the Rainforest Foundation Norway.

Global demand for palm oil is growing and the EU rule might “reduce the increase in demand but it will not decrease the demand,” she said. READ MORE

US soy for producing biofuels, an ‘unsustainable’ giveaway to Trump (EurActiv)

EU approves US soybeans for biofuel production (The Tribune)

EU calms U.S. trade ties by accepting U.S. soybeans in biofuel (EuroNews/Reuters)

Tue. 9:16 a.m.: EU approves US soybeans for biofuel production (Tribune Chronicle)

In nod to Trump, EU okays US soya for biofuels (Malay Mail)

Europeans agree U.S. soybean oil may be used in biofuels (Radio Iowa)

EU Clears U.S. Soybean For Biofuel Production (Wisconsin Ag Connection)

Excerpt from Euractiv: The Commission also said that imports of US soya are to increase if the use of the commodity for producing biofuels will be authorised in the EU by recognising the “U.S. Soybean Sustainability Assurance Protocol”, managed and audited by US Department for Agriculture (USDA).

This scheme needs to be proved in compliance with the EU environmental sustainability criteria set in 2009 renewable energy directive (RED), which are lighter than the environmental requirements in the recently revised RED II.

The Commission’s decision on the US scheme will be valid only until the first RED is repealed on 1 July 2021, which coincides with the transposition deadline of the new directive, a Commission source told EURACTIV.com.

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The EU’s increase in soybean imports only makes a small drop in the bucket but at this point, the US has to rely on any sales they can get as soybean exports are 40% below last year to date.

“Why would the Commission with one hand limit first-generation biofuels from EU producers and with the other open the gate for imported first-generation crop as soy? Just to do a favour for the Trump administration?” wondered Emmanuel Desplechin, secretary-general of ethanol association ePURE.

He deemed the operation as another trade move counterproductive in terms of EU objectives on the environment, energy and agriculture and another blow to domestic EU production of biofuel feedstock. READ MORE