EU’s environment advisors call for end to biofuel growth plans

Corn: maybe not so beneficial as a fuel.

The scientific committee of the European Environment Agency, composed of  20 independent scientists from 15 member countries, said the 10 per cent target is environmentally unsustainable.

Greenhouse gas emissions from the transport are rising steadily, with more than 90 percent of the total due to road transport. Existing policies have so far failed to stop further emission growth, leading to the introduction of mandatory biofuel quotas.

The 2003, the Biofuels Directive set the objective of replacing 2 per cent of vehicle fuel supply by 2005 and 5.75 per cent by 2010. The 2005 target was not met and it seems unlikely that the 2010 target can be reached. Yet in 2007 the target was increased to 10 per cent by 2020, with the proviso that production must be sustainable and second generation technologies for deriving biofuels from cellulose must be available commercially.

The initial targets may have been missed, but nevertheless the pace of biofuel production in the EU and of biofuel imports from third countries is picking up. The Scientific Committee said this gave rise to concern over additional environmental pressure, both inside and outside the EU.

• Biofuel production based on first generation technologies does not make optimal use of biomass, either in terms of eking out fossil fuel reserves or reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The committee said technologies for direct heat and electricity generation should be preferred because they are more economically competitive and more environmentally effective than biofuel production for vehicles.

• Using biomass involves combustion of very valuable and finite resources from the environment. These resources ought to be preserved wherever possible. Therefore biomass utilisation must go hand in hand with energy efficiency improvements. This is not yet the case for the majority of applications in the automotive and residential sectors.

• The Scientific Committee says the land required to meet the 10 per cent target exceeds the amount of available land area in Europe,  even if a considerable contribution of second generation fuels is assumed. The intensification of biofuel production will increase pressure on soil, water and biodiversity.

• The 10 per cent target will require large imports of biofuels. The accelerated destruction of rain forests due to increasing biofuel production is already evident in some developing countries, and the committee said sustainable production outside Europe is difficult to achieve and to monitor.

The 10 per cent target is overambitious, and is an experiment, whose unintended effects are difficult to predict and difficult to control, said the committee, adding, “[We] recommend suspending the 10 percent goal; carrying out a new, comprehensive scientific study on the environmental risks and benefits of biofuels; and setting a new and more moderate long-term target, if sustainability cannot be guaranteed.”