Europe's faltering biofuel aims

Europe’s plans to more than double its use of biofuels by 2020 is ‘significantly’ adding to worldwide carbon emissions, according to a new report. Europe is committed to source 10 per cent of its transport fuel from renewable sources, such as biofuels, within 10 years. But the British government says the policy is proving counterproductive and the greenhouse emissions associated with biofuels are substantially greater than the savings. It is urging the European Commission to rethink its plan. The new study, by the Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP), concludes that biofuels will create an extra 56 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year — the equivalent of an extra 12–26 million cars on Europe’s roads — by 2020. This is because Europe will need to cultivate an area somewhere between that of Belgium and the Republic of Ireland with biofuels to meet the target, which can only be done through land conversion and, more controversially, deforestation. The requirement would be on such a scale that the carbon dioxide released from the removed vegetation, trees and soil will be far greater than that given off by fossil fuels they are designed to replace. The new study found that far from being 35–50 per cent less polluting, as required by the European directive, the extra biofuels will be twice as bad for the environment. There is not enough cultivatable land available to grow them in Europe, so forests in South America and Asia are under threat by projects developed to meet the European demand. Under European rules biofuels cannot be bought from ‘new’ agricultural lands such as these, but biofuel businesses have got around this by buying up existing agricultural land for biofuel. Forests are then cut down to make up for the loss of agriculture, subject to less stringent controls, a plan known as indirect land-use change (ILUC). “Promoting the use of biofuels with no consideration of ILUC has the potential actually to increase the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions,” says David Baldock, executive director of the IEEP. “It is vital that this situation is rectified and ILUC impacts are urgently addressed within EU law. It is essential to remember that the renewable energy directive, which is driving EU biofuel use, was adopted to help combat climate change.” It was hoped that the 10 per cent target for biofuels would be used by EU countries as an opportunity to develop innovative solutions, such as the adoption of advanced biofuels, electric vehicles, and that it would drive investment in energy efficiency. However, the new report shows that conventional biofuels will dominate up to 2020, accounting for 8.8 per cent of transport fuel — equivalent to 24.3 million tonnes of oil. Fifteen million tonnes of this would result from the adoption of the 10 per cent target. “This analysis underlines the need to include ILUC in the EU criteria for assessing whether biofuels should count towards the delivery of the renewable energy directive’s targets,” says Catherine Bowyer, lead author of the IEEP report. “The heavy reliance by member states on conventional biofuel use in 2020 and the limited use of more advanced, or energy efficient, transport solutions are also a major concern,” she said. “Action by member states to promote these would put Europe on a more sustainable pathway”. Issues: Brazil is one of the world’s largest biofuel producers from sugar cane but there are concerns that Europe will not be able to produce or source enough without increasing carbon emissions. (Photo: Ricardo Funari/Photolibrary.) Europe’s faltering biofuel aims