Articles related to "Biofuels for transport"

The growing row over biofuels is ready to flare up again with German researchers claiming to have found evidence that European-produced biodiesel does not meet the sustainability targets claimed by Brussels.

Over 100 top scientists and economists have written to the European Commission calling for indirect land use change (ILUC) to be accounted for in EU biofuels policy making.

A fresh row has erupted in Brussels over the environmental benefits of biofuels, with academics and EU officials at loggerhead over how to account for CO2 savings in the product's life cycle.

Berlin's attempts to implement an EU law requiring a 10% share of biofuels to be used in transport by 2020 have hit a wall as a majority of German drivers are avoiding the new E10 biofuel standard over fears it could damage car engines. A special summit is taking place today to address the issue.

An underestimation of the expected surge in emissions from oil-based fossil fuels could undermine the EU's climate goals, the European Biodiesel Board (EBB) warned yesterday (18 March).

Defining sustainability criteria for biofuels will be one of the first dossiers on the table of the newly appointed environment and energy commissioners, as persistent disagreements continue to divide the EU executive.

The European Commission has begun consultations on tackling indirect land-use change caused by agro-fuel production, floating the idea that such criteria could be applied more generally to a range of other agricultural commodities.

Using household waste to produce bioethanol can reduce landfill dramatically while producing heat and electricity, Mika Aho, managing director of leading Finnish bioethanol company St1 Biofuels, told EurActiv in an interview.

On the eve of negotiations that could determine the adoption of EU biofuel targets, the bloc's lawmakers are still split over sustainability criteria, including the amount of land used to grow crops for production.

The European Parliament's Industry and Energy Committee today (11 September) looks set to approve a cross-party compromise reaffirming binding targets for renewables and on the use of biofuels in transport.

The European Parliament's Environment Committee last night (7 July) voted to scale down the proposed EU-wide 10% biofuels target by 2020 to 4% by 2015. But the Commission immediately insisted that "this is NOT the official opinion of the European Parliament".

EU consumers should get used to paying more for food as prices for meat, grain, cereal and a range of agricultural commodities are set to increase further, according to EU officials and MEPs debating the issue in Strasbourg yesterday (22 April). The EU's current push for biofuels came under repeated scrutiny during the discussion. 

Responding to climate change and energy concerns while conserving forests and biodiversity will be among the topics of discussion during an informal meeting of environment ministers this weekend in Slovenia.

An EU-wide target to boost the use of biofuels in European transport could be revised due to fears of intolerable hikes in food prices, mass deforestation and water shortages, it emerged from statements made after the Spring Summit.

The EU's energy and agriculture commissioners have joined hands in defending the bloc's commitment to biofuels, following calls by a UK parliamentary committee for a moratorium on the promotion of the controversial alternative to fossil fuels. 

Germany, Austria, Belgium, Finland, France and Luxembourg are calling for a new EU action plan to promote the use of biomass for the chemicals, construction and packaging industries, which are concerned that excessive biofuels production may undermine their raw materials base. 

A special farm aid scheme aimed at developing Europe's energy crop sector will be scaled back, after it emerged that farmers have already massively shifted production towards biofuels, overshooting a two million hectare target, the Commission has announced.

Government support for biofuels will cause food shortages and lead to the destruction of natural habitats - while making little impact on climate change, warned the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), delivering a blow to EU plans to obtain 10% of its transport fuel from plants by 2020.

First-generation biofuels - such as ethanol - must be seen as a ''stepping stone'' for the development of new, environmentally-friendly alternatives, such as fuel made from waste, because it will never be possible to produce them on a sufficiently large scale - according to UOP, a leading developer of refining processes and technology.

The first-ever EU-Brazil Summit, held on 4 July 2007 in Lisbon, has raised hopes of deeper cooperation between the EU and the South-American Mercosur free-trade zone, with Brazil prone to quench the EU's growing thirst for biofuels. 

The US plane-maker has told EurActiv of its plans to fly aircrafts on a 50% biofuels blend in a bid to reduce its carbon footprint. However, it says that it does not expect much from the inclusion of aviation in the EU's CO2-trading scheme.

Proposed new fuel-quality standards have oil companies fuming as Commission seeks deeper cuts in CO2 and other noxious pollutants emitted by petrol refining and use. The new standards also encourage increased blending with biofuels.

Contrary to expectations, US President George W. Bush's energy and climate-change policy will not drastically alter. His promise to reduce US petrol consumption by 20% in ten years hinges on major technological breakthroughs.

Plans to increase biofuel contribution to 10% of EU transport fuel by 2020 have been criticised by environmental NGOs, who increasingly believe that the promotion of biofuels may actually cause more harm than good.

It is becoming clear that biofuels made from sugar and vegetable oils will fail to substantially reduce our dependance on oil. Do second-generation biofuels stand a better chance?

The Commission has proposed extending to the ten member states that joined the EU in 2004 a scheme rewarding farmers with a 45 euro premium for each hectare of land used for biofuels production.

EU energy ministers insisted on preserving member states' ability to determine their own policies and objectives on biomass and biofuels. A new R&D platform was launched to explore the further use of biofuels in Europe.

New measures aim at increasing the blending of biofuels in cars to 10% per volume by 2015, French PM Dominique de Villepin announced. The measure is part of a wide-ranging energy policy review.

The Commission has launched legal action against several EU countries for failing to transpose directives on electricity generation from renewables and biofuels in transport.

The issue of biofuel imports from non-EU countries was one of the main concerns raised during a debate on the Commission's biomass action plan and its strategy to promote biofuels. 

Fear has spread across the globe and people are beginning to act on impulse to tackle issues such as the food crisis, so it is time to start using our heads, argues Norbert Walter in a 16 May commentary for Deutsche Bank Research.

Converting forest and grassland to produce crops for biofuels produces unforeseen greenhouse gas emissions and thus increases their cost, raising concerns about large biofuel mandates, a new study by Tim Searchinger of the German Marshall Fund reveals. 

Biofuels and other alternative fuels have huge potential to help reduce energy consumption and meet sustainability objectives in the transport sector, particularly for aviation, according to a World Energy Council (WEC) study.

In its new publication ‘Biofuels for Transport’, the Worldwatch Institute examines how biofuels can reach their potential to strengthen energy security, promote economic development and protect the environment.

Daniel Kammen, a professor of energy in the Energy and Resources Group and the Goldman School of Public Policy, says that recent steps taken by a number of nations may have finally  begun to address global warming.

The lack of internationally-agreed criteria for sustainable biofuels production and the muddle of different government measures aimed at sheltering domestic markets are holding back growth in the global biofuels trade and could stunt EU progress towards its goal of gradually replacing oil for transport.