British MPs criticise EU biofuels policy

Earlier this month, in the same week that the European Commission launched its new climate change strategy, the Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) said biofuels are ineffective at cutting greenhouse gases and can be expensive. It also says that there are more effective and cheaper ways to cut emissions from road transport.

Threatening food supplies
Furthermore, the committee of MPs says that the targets are putting up food prices and threatening food supplies for the poor. Instead, it says that the focus of the EU and the UK government should be on sustainable biofuels, such as waste vegetable oil and the development of more efficient biofuel technologies.

The EAC concludes that:

• biofuels are unlikely to improve fuel security as they largely rely on fossil fuels for their production;
• current agricultural support for biofuels is largely unsustainable;
• there could be significant opportunities for cost-effectively cutting greenhouse gas emissions by planting forests and restoring habitats; and
• a large biofuel industry based on current technology is likely to increase food prices and could damage food security in developing countries.

Out of touch

In releasing its report during the same week the EU launched its climate strategy, the EAC was clearly hoping to spoil the party. However, if anything, it has arguably shown itself to be out of touch with current developments in the biofuels industry. It is, in effect, knocking at an open door. Few would argue with its general concerns about first generation biofuels – which is precisely why most of the industry is now focused on second generation biofuels which explicitly avoid many of the raised problems. Come on EAC, keep up!

Piebalgs disagrees
EC Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs understandably disagreed with the EAC findings. In a statement, he said, “the Commission shares the House of Common's concern that biofuels have to be sustainable, and that this sustainability has to be guaranteed by robust sustainability standards and mechanisms to prevent damaging land use change. This is precisely why the new directive for the promotion of renewable energy sources will call for the promotion of only sustainable biofuels, i.e. those that can ensure a substantial CO2 saving compared to the oil that would be consumed instead.”