Europe cuts biofuel targets to 4% in 2015, 6% in 2020
Europe cuts biofuel targets to 4% in 2015, 6% in 2020
mongabay.com
September 12, 2008
The European Union significantly reduces targets for biofuels produced from food sources, while boosting goals for other renewables
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The E.U. voted to relax biofuels targets following widespread criticism of their social, economic, and environmental impacts.
Thursday the European Parliament’s Industry and Energy Committee said it would push a plan calling for a 5 percent share of renewables in transport fuel by 2015 and a 10 percent target by 2020, a reduction from the 20 percent target set forth in March 2007. The plan effectively cuts targets for biofuels produced from conventional feedstocks to four percent in 2015 and six percent in 2020. The remainder of the goal would come from renewable electricity and hydrogen (solar, wind, tidal, geothermal) as well as energy feedstocks that do not compete with food production (potentially cellulosic ethanol). Critics say that the rush to produce ethanol and biodiesel from grains and oilseeds has caused food prices to surge worldwide.
  Palm oil and palm fruit. |
The new plan includes social sustainability criteria, including respect for the land rights of local communities and fair remuneration for workers, as well as environmental standards, including offering at least 45 percent carbon emission savings compared to conventional fossil fuels, a figure that would rise to 60 percent in 2015. The plan would seem to address some of the criticism raised by environmentalists and human rights groups who say that biofuels are triggering displacement of local people and driving the conversion of important ecosystems, including peatlands and rainforests in the Amazon and Southeast Asia.
The 2020 target will be up for review again in 2014.
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