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Novozymes: EU's new biofuels policy not nuanced enough

The EU's new biofuels policy falls short of what is needed to spur growth in advanced fuels and is mistakenly writing off fuels derived from food crops, Novozymes has warned, writes Will Nichols on businessgreen.com, 24/10/12.

Commissioners last week unveiled proposals to cap the use of biofuels made from wheat or rapeseed to meet the bloc's goal of sourcing 10 % of transport energy from renewable sources by 2020.

These first generation fuels, which have been criticised by campaigners for undermining food production at a time of rising global prices, will now only be allowed to deliver half the EU's biofuel target. Instead, the Commission confirmed it wants to see more sustainable alternatives made from non-feed feedstocks such as waste, crop residues, or algae, make up the other half of the target, writes Will Nichols. 

“Capping all of the first generation biofuels at a specific number and disregarding what type of biofuel you're talking about is a shame,"

said Lars Hansen, European president of Danish biofuels company Novozymes.

"There are a lot of jobs to be gained from picking the most sustainable first generation biofuels," he added. "I feel the proposal is not nuanced enough."

Hansen believes the EU has moved too quickly to dismiss first generation biofuels and argues that Brussels could have overcome sustainability concerns by incorporating a controversial measurement of emissions related to farmers clearing land to grow energy crops, known as indirect land use change (ILUC) factors.

Second generation biofuels

Lars Hansen welcomed the Commission's support for the kind of so-called second generation biofuels (also known as advanced biofuels) the company specialises in.

Despite the name, advanced biofuels have yet to reach industrial levels of production, with only one plant being developed in Italy and a few more in the US. This has led some commentators to declare that capping food-based biofuels has left the EU with little chance of achieving its 2020 target, although a system of quadruple counting advanced biofuels may mean it is met on paper.

New proposals for measuring the impact of ILUC on biofuel emissions were included in draft proposals leaked last month, but were then dropped from the final statement, much to the annoyance of green groups.

EU’s new bioeconomy strategy

In February, the EU released a new bioeconomy strategy setting out how it plans to develop "post-petroleum" technologies, products, and markets that could support 130,000 jobs by 2025, while helping get the continent off the "oil hook".

Europe is currently expected to be wholly reliant on oil imports by 2035, up from 85 % today, leaving it even more exposed to global price shocks.

However, Hansen added that Europe's "overly cautious" attitude towards biofuels could see the continent miss out on its share of the employment and revenues offered by the growing bio-economy, 

"In Europe we are very afraid of taking one or two good steps - we would rather take one perfect step," he said. "We would rather wait and wait until we have calculated everything until we have the perfect solution, but the trouble is, you never get there unless you start to get going.

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