Crop-based biofuels vital for animal feed, energy, the environment: cuts unacceptable

Copa-Cogeca Secretary-General Pekka Pesonen warned at International Conference "Fuels of the Future 2015" in Berlin

Crop based biofuels are vital for animal feed, the environment, jobs, fuel. It is unacceptable to limit their use and turn our back on science and innovation, Copa-Cogeca Secretary-General Pekka Pesonen warned at an International Conference”Fuels of the Future 2015″ in Berlin today.

“We have invested vast amounts of money in the sector after the EU committed itself in 2009 to boost the use of crop-based biofuels in transport and ensure that at least 10% of transport fuels come from renewable energy sources by 202o . This has huge benefits for growth and jobs in rural areas. Now the EU Commission has turned its back on us and proposed halving this limit, without any clear scientific advice to back it up. We reject the reports which were used as a basis to introduce iLUC factors in the fuel suppliers reporting to Member states. The model used for the report is not transparent and not suitable for precisely estimating the extent of land use change in non-EU countries and the resulting greenhouse gas emissions, due to critical data errors and important methodical problems”.

He continued: “We now have no clear commitment for the sector post 2020, which threatens jobs, animal feed supplies, fuel. Existing investments are insecure in the common market and producers have been left out in the cold”.

“We cannot accept that the Commission is throwing a spanner in the works of Member States by restricting the use of crop-based biofuels. As UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) secretary General José Graziano da Silva stated only on Friday “If developed responsibly, biofuel production can be a key element of a necessary “paradigm shift” in global food production” .

“I consequently urge MEPs and EU Ministers to opt for a higher limit of at least 8% and 2% for advanced biofuels by 202o when they agree legislation on future EU biofuel policy. The integration of the transport sector in the European Trading System (ETS) would also completely undermine the sustainability criteria for biofuels and bioliquids and the single market for fuels”, he concluded.

 

Contact

Dominique Dejonckheere
Senior Policy Advisor
Tel.: +32 2 287 27 30
E-Mail: Dominique.Dejonckheere@copa-cogeca.eu

Source

Copa-Cogeca, press release, 2015-01-21.

Supplier

Copa-Cogeca
European Commission
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Fuels of the Future

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