Copa and Cogeca step up pressure on EU biofuel plans

Ahead of talks between the EU institutions on the EU’s renewable energy Directive, Copa and Cogeca sent a joint letter today urging the EU to follow the Council’s general approach to have true targets for renewable energy sources to decarbonise the transport sector. Copa and Cogeca believe that the EU should have a a binding blending obligation on fuel suppliers of at least 14%, without technological restrictions.

The EU also needs to maintain at 7 % until 2030 the maximum share for crop-based biofuels used in transport. Copa and Cogeca Secretary-General Pekka Pesonen said “The Council’s agreement for a general approach on a blending obligation on fossil fuel suppliers is welcome news. We need a stable, long-term policy in the future with realistic targets for renewables to decarbonise the transport sector and to meet the EU’s climate and renewable energy goals beyond 2020.

Advanced biofuels cannot replace the conventional generation of biofuels but should contribute to decarbonising the transport sector in addition to the existing ones”. He added “We need real targets for renewables in the future EU Directive, not a policy that uses artificial multipliers to give a misleading impression of the true environmental impact of tools.

The only winners here are fossil fuels. The contribution of palm oil and its derivatives to the EU’s climate and environmental objectives should also not be included as long as there is no solution to the sustainability problems such as deforestation in the country of origin”. “Copa and Cogeca call for the removal of all multipliers and effective corrective measures for palm oil in the bioenergy sector. The EU needs crop-based biofuels post 2020 in order to meet the EU’s ambitious climate and energy targets and to ensure an environmental-friendly transport sector and vibrant rural areas”, concluded Pesonen.