Biofuels | Transport & Environment

Biofuels

If left unchanged, EU legislation promoting biofuels for transport will lead to higher, not lower greenhouse gas emissions. T&E and other environmental organisations are campaigning for Europe to address the environmental impact of indirect land use change (ILUC) caused by biofuel production. Read the letter from more than 200 scientists asking the European Commission to address ILUC emissions, download our briefing on ILUC and take a look at our report into how the EU could manage the impact of an ILUC-based policy on existing biofuels production.

What's happening?

Under the terms of the EU's Renewable Energy Directive (RED), EU member states are required to source 10% of transport energy from renewable sources, mainly biofuels, by 2020. The RED includes ‘sustainability criteria’ that dictate the minimum CO2 savings biofuels should achieve relative to fossil fuels in order to qualify for the scheme (and receive state subsidies). These criteria account only for the emissions that occur when land is converted specifically to grow biofuel crops (direct land use change). However it does not currently contain measures to calculate the impact of indirect land use change (ILUC). The law states that the European Commission must investigate and propose a way of dealing with the ILUC problem by the end of 2010, a deadline that has obviously passed. European Commissioners will debate a proposal to deal with ILUC on 2 May. Read our briefing.