About: advanced biofuels

Investing in consumer ‘proximity’ to produce biodiesel from UCO

A Greek company says it has found a way to collect much more effectively used cooking oil for biodiesel production: by making it easier for consumers to find nearby collection points and avoid simply pouring the used oil down their kitchen sink,

Commission official: EU should re-examine renewable energy rules

The recently updated Renewable Energy Directive (RED II) has drawn much criticism and it would be good for the European Commission to look at it again, a high-ranking official in the EU executive has admitted.

MEP: Clean technology mix needed to decarbonise transport

Decarbonising transport is an enormous challenge and there will be a need to deploy a mix of clean technologies to accelerate the transition to a sustainable system, MEP Seán Kelly told EURACTIV.com.

EU throws the ball to member states to monitor RED II implementation

The implementation of the revised Renewable Energy Directive (RED II) remains to a large extent the responsibility of the member states, EU sources told EURACTIV.com, in light of ongoing fraud investigations into the practice of mixing palm oil with cooking oil (UCO).

The road to decarbonisation: Long-term biofuels policy in a changing EU political landscape

The EU has outlined a vision for a zero-carbon future – one that would require a massive increase in the deployment of renewable energy sources.

With new regulation complete, what’s next for EU biofuels?

After years of political wrangling over how to account for indirect land use change from biofuels in EU legislation, businesses now have the regulatory stability they’ve long been craving.

Eastern Europe backs locally produced biofuels to save climate and farmers

Slovakia, Poland and the Czech Republic have signed a joint declaration saying that Europe will be able to de-carbonise transport through the use of locally produced clean biofuels, which will also boost rural areas and farmers.

Time is running out for biofuels sustainability criteria

The European Commission’s Directorate-General (DG) of Energy will only give two days to other DGs to express their opinion about its much-awaited proposal on the sustainability criteria of biofuels, which will determine the future of palm oil in Europe.

RED2: what is next for palm oil?

The boom of palm oil in the EU biofuels mixture since 2012 took centre stage in the debate about the revised Renewable Energy Directive (RED2).

Biofuels and electromobility are key in Portugal’s transport decarbonisation

Portugal will use both electromobility and biofuels to decarbonise its transport sector by 2050, José Mendes, Portuguese First Secretary of State for Mobility - Environment and Energy Transition, told EURACTIV.com in an interview.

EU’s renewable energy law not meant to support farmers, official admits

The updated renewable energy directive was not meant to support European farmers, but rather promote green energy in whatever form as long as it complies with sustainability criteria, a European Commission official has said.

Palm oil ban on the ropes as Commission weighs options

Under the EU’s new renewable energy rules, the European Commission has to define criteria that are meant to curb the use of the most climate-damaging biofuels. A new study warns that if handled incorrectly, the use of fuels like palm oil will increase instead of being phased out.

Electricity and biofuels needed in tandem to meet climate goals, UN report says

First generation biofuels such as palm oil diesel gave bioenergy a bad name, but recent scientific reports have confirmed that policymakers must take into account all the available options in the transport sector to win the climate change battle.

Why rewarding renewable fuels under the truck CO2 regulation would be a bad idea

It may sound like a good thing to reward advanced fuels. But doing it under the CO2 standards for heavy duty vehicles (HDVs) would not achieve this goal and would only end up weakening EU fuel efficiency standards, says Cristina Mestre.

European market ‘open to palm oil’, EU ambassador in Malaysia says

The EU is open to palm oil and there is no ban on the commodity, the head of the European Union Delegation to Malaysia, ambassador Maria Castillo Fernandez, said on 16 July in an apparent attempt to appease Asian producers.

Palm oil to be phased out in EU by 2030

The use of palm oil as fuel should disappear in Europe by 2030 under a reform of the bloc’s renewable energy laws agreed this morning after all-night negotiations.

Biofuels: ‘Waste and residues’ need clear criteria to avoid system’s misuse

The criteria for "waste and residues" should be so defined clearly in the EU legislation that the system cannot be misused and allowed to endanger sustainability, Robert Spišák told EURACTIV.com in a written interview.

Debate on costs of advanced biofuels heats up

The debate on the technologies available to produce second-generation biofuels, and their related costs, is heating up in Brussels amid disagreement over the European Commission’s estimates.

RED II – Europe’s €25 billion blunder

The Commission’s ‘strategy’ is to phase out conventional biofuels in the hope that they will miraculously be replaced by ‘advanced’ biofuels in Europe’s transport energy mix isn’t backed by science or by logic, writes Dick Roche.

EU set bar ‘too high’ on advanced biofuels

The EU needs a more realistic target for advanced biofuels in transport, green campaigners have warned, saying proper sustainability criteria should be introduced to avoid the “mistakes of the past” when biofuels attracted criticism for causing deforestation and environmental degradation in the developing world.

Can advanced biofuels really work?

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As part of the Renewable Energy Directive review (RED II), the Commission proposed a gradual phase-out of food-based biofuels, which should be replaced by “more advanced biofuels” that do not compete with food crops.