biofuel policy News
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Ministers seal a modest reform of EU biofuels policy
Energy ministers today finally agreed to change the EU’s biofuels policy. After more than a year of talks, the Energy Council says it wants to limit the amount of food-based biofuels to 7% of petrol and diesel sold [1]. Without policy change, around 8.6% would likely come from such biofuels; the Commission proposed a stricter limit of 5%. The deal also further weakens the reporting of ...
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Pruitt Responds to Senators’ request for details on Icahn’s Advisory Role
On September 11, 2017, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt sent a letter to Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) in response to the request by Senator Whitehouse and four other Democratic Senators to explain Carl Icahn’s role in shaping the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program. According to Pruitt, Icahn did not exercise excessive influence on the U.S. ...
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EU biofuels policy ‘not supported by science’
More than 150 scientists and economists have written to the Commission calling for it to recognise that biofuels production can have indirect impacts on land-use, and for the resulting emissions to be taken into account in assessing which biofuels help in the fight against global warming. The letter comes as one branch of the biofuels industry has broken away from the rest by saying it would ...
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EU Commissioner Piebalgs attends international conference on biofuels
Commissioner Piebalgs has been participating in the International Biofuels Conference taking place in Sao Paulo, Brazil from 17 to 21 November. Fifty Ministers including many from developing countries attended the Conference at which Commissioner Piebalgs emphasized the potential benefits of international cooperation on biofuels.'Biofuels is a key element to reach the ambitious targets set by the ...
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New reports cast doubt over biofuel policy
Two separate reports reviewing the indirect land use change (ILUC) impacts of biofuel crops have stressed the importance of factoring ILUC impacts into biofuel policies to ensure use of biofuels do not result in higher greenhouse gas emissions (GhG) than their fossil fuel alternatives. The Department for Transport (DfT) commissioned E4Tech to study the impacts of five biofuel streams which are ...
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Biofuels reform back in European Parliament – view new web documentary
As the European Parliament’s Environment Committee Rapporteur today presents his report on the reform of Europe’s biofuels policy, a new web documentary explores how the EU has failed to decarbonise transport through biofuels. The web documentary can be found at www.biofuelsreform.org. Commissioned by BirdLife Europe, the European Environmental Bureau (EEB) and Transport & ...
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Commission misses opportunity to get biofuel policy right
With today’s biofuel proposal, the European Commission has acknowledged the climate impact of biofuel emissions from indirect land-use change (ILUC) [1] but does not tackle it. The proposed obligation to monitor ILUC emissions from biofuels will not solve the key environmental issue of halting production of unsustainable biofuels that are, in some cases, more harmful to the climate than ...
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Indian Government Making Policies for a Flourishing Biofuel Industry
According to a recent report on “Indian Biofuel Industry” published by RNCOS, environmental safety, together with security and diversity of energy supply, are the principal aims of the Indian Government for the Biofuel industry. These factors are working as the main impetus for the growth of the Biofuel industry. The Indian government has recently instituted its policies to promote the ...
By RNCOS
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Parliament’s Energy Committee fails to fix EU biofuels policy
Members of the European Parliament’s Energy Committee in a vote today weakened an already modest proposal to fix EU biofuels policy, hampering the transition towards more sustainable biofuels. MEPs voted not only against accounting for biofuel emissions from indirect land-use change (ILUC) but even against reporting them [1], allowing biofuels that increase emissions compared to ...
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Fundamental rethink needed on EU biofuels policy
The United Nations’ special rapporteur on the right to food has called for an urgent rethink in EU biofuels policy before too much investment is made on the back of unsustainable biofuels targets. His comments come as more evidence emerges that biofuels may be a poor means of tackling climate change. The UN rapporteur, Olivier de Schutter, told a press conference in Brussels last month ...
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European Parliament vote leaves biofuels up in the air
The European Parliament voted today to limit the expansion of land-based biofuels, but did not give the rapporteur of the file, MEP Corinne Lepage, a mandate to negotiate the agreement with the EU countries and the European Commission. This creates further uncertainty on the future of biofuels in Europe. MEPs also voted to include emissions from indirect land-use change (ILUC) [1] in the fuel ...
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Member state biofuel plans will cause higher emissions than fossil fuels
The use of biofuels in EU transport will emit between 81% and 167% more greenhouse gases than fossil fuels and require an area twice the size of Belgium in new land to grow biofuel crops. That is the latest evidence concerning the environmental impact of biofuels, which was published earlier this month. As the findings are based on EU member states’ plans for increasing use of biofuels and ...
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FAO calls for review of biofuel policies and subsidies
Biofuel policies and subsidies should be urgently reviewed in order to preserve the goal of world food security, protect poor farmers, promote broad-based rural development and ensure environmental sustainability, FAO said in a new edition of its annual flagship publication The State of Food and Agriculture (SOFA) 2008. “Biofuels present both opportunities and risks. The outcome would depend on ...
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EU Governments’ Agreement Allows Biofuels Debate to Progress
European governments today gave the green light to a political deal to amend the EU’s biofuels policy. The compromise by ambassadors, which must now be signed off by energy ministers, caps the use of food-based biofuels that are eligible to count towards carbon reduction targets [1] to 7% of transport fuel – higher than the original 5% cap as proposed by the Commission in 2012, and ...
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EU energy ministers reject a bad deal on biofuels but status quo is even worse
European energy ministers today rejected by a blocking minority a political deal to amend the EU biofuels policy. The rejected agreement, struck by the Lithuanian Presidency of the EU, would have limited the use of food-based biofuels that are eligible to count towards carbon reduction targets [1] to 7% of transport fuel – a cap close to the original 2020 target. The deal would have also ...
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Biofuels: the Once and Future Energy Source?
Biofuels such as wood and straw are the energy sources of our remote ancestors; will they become a primary fuel for our progeny? And will they be an environmental boon, limiting carbon emissions, or will they accelerate the crash of already threatened ecosystems? The new Issue Brief on biofuels published today by the WBCSD tries to put reality back into the discussion and looks at facts and ...
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EU lawmakers agree to phase out land-based biofuels
The use of land-based biofuels as part of EU plans for the decarbonisation of transport will be restricted under a proposal endorsed by the European Parliament’s environment committee today. Transport & Environment cautiously welcomes the decision, which is expected to be approved by the full Parliament later this month, will limit at 7% the use of first-generation biofuels that can ...
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Biofuel policies in OECD countries costly and ineffective, says report
Government support of biofuel production in OECD countries is costly, has a limited impact on reducing greenhouse gases and improving energy security, and has a significant impact on world crop prices, according to a new study of policies to promote greater production and use of biofuel in OECD countries. OECD’s Economic Assessment of Biofuel Support Policies says biofuels are currently highly ...
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Sustainable biofuels done right offer innumerable benefits to society, says UN IPCC report
The European Renewable Ethanol Association (ePURE) welcomes the findings of a UN IPCC report “Bioenergy and climate change mitigation: an assessment” which is released today as part of the IPCC 5th Assessment Report. The report confirms that bioenergy has a massively positive role to play in society but more research is needed to realise its full potential. The report concludes that ...
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EU should base its biofuels policy on facts rather than emotions
The World Bioenergy Association (WBA) opposes the European Union (EU) proposal to phase out support for conventional biofuels post 2020i. The recent European Commission proposals against conventional biofuels are impacting the local farmers, businesses and companies in the biofuels sector. These policy decisions based on emotions and myths are dangerous and will significantly impact the EU plans ...
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