Cautious commitment to 10% biofuels by 2020

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The idea was proposed by the Commission in January, but was criticised by environmental organisations for making no distinction between good and bad biofuels.

Two days before last month’s EU summit, T&E joined with the EEB and BirdLife in calling on the 27 leaders to reject any binding biofuels target and instead introduce a target for lifecycle greenhouse gas emission reductions for the production of transport fuels. They said a binding target would result in “major environmental and social problems”.

The 27 leaders did agree the 10% target, but said the binding nature of the target will be dependent on production being sustainable, second-generation biofuels being available, and successful amendments to the fuel quality directive.

Approval for the biofuels target was overshadowed by the agreement at the summit for a 20% reduction in the EU’s overall carbon dioxide emissions between 1990 and 2020. By agreeing a series of measures to combat climate change that had been put forward by the Commission in January, the president José Manuel Barroso said the EU now had “the most ambitious climate protection strategy anywhere in the world.”

This news story is taken from the April 2007 edition of T&E Bulletin.