European Union Biofuels Policy – An Overview

Volpi, Guilio

2009

Descargar documento

The European Union (EU) committed to increase the share of biofuels to 5.75% by 2010 and 10% by 2020. Biofuels have been championed as an energy source that can increase security of supply, reduce greenhouse emissions from transports and provide new incomes for farmers domestically and abroad. However, questions have arisen regarding the overall environmental and food security impacts of such policy. This paper aims to shed some light on these complex and controversial issues. Sections 2 and 3 review the policy drivers and the current market uptake of biofuels in the EU. Section 4 assesses the European and national policies in6uencing their development. Section 5 discusses the likely environmental and food security impacts of the EU 10% target. Section 6 summarises the !ndings of this analysis and section 7 brings forward a number of policy recommendations. This paper !nds that as long as biofuels used in the EU do not comply with minimum environmental and carbon standards, future biofuels expansion in Europe could lead to additional pressures on biodiversity, and on soil and water resources. In addition, there will be signi!cant risks that biodiversity and carbon-rich ecosystems such as tropical forests and wetlands could be replaced with biofuels plantations, thus adding to climate change and causing irreversible biodiversity loss. To minimise these risks while effectively reducing the carbon footprint of the transport sector, a change in the EU biofuel policy is needed. Speci!cally, the EU should swiftly implement the following measures: a) prioritise and maximise energy ef!ciency and conservation in the transport sector; b) implement carbon and environmental certi!cation of biofuels; c) provide new incentives for conservation of tropical forests; and, d) prioritise biogas technologies among biofuels. [Introduction]

Biocombustibles; Políticas; Unión Europea;