Brussels, Belgium
January 24, 2008
EuropaBio, the European
biotech industry association, welcomes Europe's new rules on
Renewable Energies. The industry strongly supports EU
initiatives to boost the use of sustainable biofuels as part of
Europe's energy mix. EuropaBio shares the concern of European
leaders that the high use of energy stemming from fossil
resources is untenable in the long term. The challenges of
rising CO2 emissions, climate change, increasing import
dependence and higher energy prices all send clear signals that
Europe needs to act now to deliver sustainable, secure and
competitive energy.
EuropaBio welcomes the support the Directive (1) gives to second
generation (2) biofuels, but stresses that the next generation
of biofuels depends on the success of the first. "Encouraging
technological development for both first and second generation
biofuels is crucial to meeting the targets set out in the
directive" said Kirsten Birkegaard Stær, Chair of EuropaBio's
Biofuels Working Group. "EuropaBio supports the inclusion of a
minimum greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction qualifying
criterion for biofuels set at a realistic level (35%), but the
directive needs to do more than just exclude biofuels which may
have a detrimental environmental impact." As an important
measure in order to stimulate the transition towards next
generation biofuels with higher GHG savings, EuropaBio proposes
a "stepwise approach" starting with a relatively low GHG savings
threshold that increases through time, or alternatively, a
system where a moderate threshold could be set as basis, coupled
with an "incentivisation system" rewarding additional GHG
savings.
Meeting the EU's target of a 10% biofuels target in 2020 will
require a realistic roadmap to implement the different policies
sustainably. "As the main driver of Europe's biofuels policy is
to achieve environmental, societal as well as economical
benefits, sustainability criteria (3) will be important for the
long-term political and public support for biofuels" said Johan
Vanhemelrijck, Secretary General of EuropaBio. "The use of
biomass for fuel purposes should not jeopardize any country's
ability to secure its food supply - either inside or outside the
EU, nor should it prevent us protecting forests, preventing soil
degradation and keeping a good ecological status of waters."
BACKGROUND
(1) Renewable energy directive: Article 18, #4: "...the
contribution made by biofuels produced from wastes, residues,
non-food cellulosic material, and ligno-cellulosic material
shall be considered to be twice that made by other biofuels."
http://ec.europa.eu/energy/climate_actions/doc/2008_res_directive_en.pdf
.
(2) What is the difference between first and second generation
biofuel?
First generation biofuel refers to crops that produce energy
e.g. energy crops like oil seed rape, maize, etc. Ethanol for
example is made from starch and starch today is largely sourced
from maize but starch can also be found in many other crops e.g.
potatoes. Starch is also used as a food source. Second
generation biofuels however use the part of the plant that is
not used as food e.g. the stem or stalk and turn that into fuel.
We need the first generation in order to achieve success with
the second generation biofuels.
(3) EuropaBio environmental sustainability criteria for
biofuels.
http://www.europabio.org/documents/biofuels/Pospaper180108.pdf |
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