EU biodiesel market briefing
This briefing details the feedstock used in biodiesel in Europe between 2010 and 2014. It is based on official industry data from Fediol obtained by T&E. The analysis shows that all of the 34% growth in EU biodiesel since 2010 comes from imported palm oil. The expansion of these plantations into natural rainforest is both having a devastating impact on biodiversity and causing net greenhouse gas emissions, to the effect that palm oil biodiesel is three times worse for the climate than fossil diesel.
Interested in this kind of news?
Receive them directly in your inbox. Delivered once a week.
In 2010, just 8% of palm oil used in Europe was for biodiesel, a share which grew to 45% in 2014. A further 15% of palm oil was burned for heat and power. Other uses of palm oil, such as for food and cosmetics, have actually declined by one-third in these four years. On average biodiesel is now 80% worse for the climate than fossil diesel, up from 40% in 2010. All forms of support for first-generation biofuels needs to end in 2020.
Related Articles
View All
Europe’s electric backbone
A strategy for the future of batteries
Reckless expansion plans blow past European airports carbon limits
A new T&E study finds expansions across twenty of Europe's largest airports overshoot the 1.7 °C emissions budget by up to three times
Overshoot: How expansion plans break European airports’ carbon limits
The case for rejecting airport expansion on climate and legal grounds