Corbey calls for biofuels sustainability criteria in fuels directive

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Dorette Corbey, the Parliament’s rapporteur on proposals to revise the EU’s fuel quality directive, is worried that sustainability criteria will find their way into the EU’s biofuels directive – a separate piece of legislation – but not into revised fuel quality standards.

Corbey has proposed a set of amendments to the EC’s proposals, which will be discussed this autumn. She says the revised directive must include criteria ensuring that the biomass used to produce fuels is “at least partly traceable” and that all firms in the biomass chain are properly certified on social and environmental criteria. Otherwise, she says, reducing lifecycle emissions from fuel production could come at the cost of deforestation, water shortages and social inequity.

However, she could face opposition from MEPs who support the idea of sustainability criteria but not in this piece of legislation.

T&E the principle of sustainability criteria, as the worst biofuels can be worse for the environment than traditional petrol and diesel.

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