EU defends sustainable biofuels policy as criticism mounts

Thomson Financial News - 06.04.08

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BRUSSELS (Thomson Financial) - European Commission spokesman Johannes Laitenberger on Wednesday defended the EU's biofuels policy, arguing that its impact on food prices is 'negligible', but conceded that there is a need for a 'thorough reflection' on how to make biofuels sustainable.

The European Union has set a target that biofuels will account for 10 percent of all vehicle fuel by 2020, as part of a wider package of measures to combat climate change.

However, the first generation of biofuels has been criticised for using up crop land needed to grow food for humans and animals, and for deforestation.

Questioned on whether the EU needs to rethink its biofuels target, Laitenberger said: 'At this point in time, when we speak about first-generation biofuels, the reality is that at least as far as the European Union and its production is concerned, the impact on food prices is negligible'.

EU member states will discuss the issue in mid-June when heads of state meet in Brussels.

An important condition for making the 2020 target binding is that production becomes sustainable by replacing the current biofuel production methods with second generation fuels, which use any plant material such as leaves or tree bark for fuel production.

This would bring an end to the conflict between the need for food and the need for fuel.

'The 2020 target of 10 percent ... is about next generation biofuels, so clearly there is work to be done', Laitenberger said.

He added that it is important not to 'close avenues which we will have to explore in order to come to sustainable solutions'.

antonia.vandevelde@thomsonreuters.com

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