Transport & Environment criticise EP Energy Committee
European NGO ‘Transport & Environment’ (T&E) has criticised a move by the European Parliament that they say weakens an already modest proposal to fix EU biofuels policy. The organisation says the vote will hamper the transition towards more sustainable biofuels.
MEPs of the Industry, Research and Energy Committee voted to cap at 6.5% the use of food-based biofuels that are eligible to count for carbon reduction targets, which will lead to a one-off release of up to 300 million tonnes of CO2 compared to the 5% limit proposed by the European Commission in October last year, according to T&E. Parliamentarians have also set a post-2020 target of 4% for so-called “advanced biofuels”
Reacting to the vote, T&E’s transport fuels manager Nuša Urbancic, said: “It is baffling that Parliamentarians in charge of the EU’s energy policy want to make energy dirtier and more expensive and, at the same time, turn a blind eye to the wealth of scientific evidence on the indirect land-use change effects of today’s biofuels. MEPs voted to increase the limit on food-based biofuels, trash ILUC factors, and prolong the failed policy of quantity-based targets for biofuels after 2020.”
The Environment Committee of the European Parliament, the other leading committee on this file, will vote on 10 July. The vote in the Plenary will take place this September.
