EU will only accept sustainable biofuels - Piebalgs

05 July 2007 11:57  [Source: ICIS news]

MANCHESTER (ICIS news)--The EU’s directive on alternative energy will include minimum sustainability standards for biofuels, Andris Piebalgs, energy commissioner, said on Thursday.

 

The details of these standards are still being finalised, but they will apply to domestically produced and imported biofuels, Piebalgs told delegates at a conference in Brussels.

 

The sustainability standards will be published as part of the directive backing the EU’s target to replace 10% of transport fuel with biofuels and aimed at increasing the EU’s share of renewable energy to 20% by 2020.

 

Only biofuels that meet these standards will count towards the 10% target, will be eligible for tax exemptions and will count towards “biofuel obligations” (under which fuel suppliers must include a given proportion of biofuel in the fuel they sell), said Piebalgs.

 

In addition to making biofuel production sustainable, Piebalgs said the EU needed to ensure that its biofuel standards, and those of its main trading partners, created no unnecessary obstacles to trade.

 

The EC expects the alternative energy directive to be ready for inspection by the council of ministers and the European Parliament by the end of the year.

By: Philippa Jones
+44 20 8652 3214

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