Poll shows Europeans want more renewable energy, but worry about cost. Ethanol offers a ready-made, homegrown solution.

It looks like a dilemma: Europeans want more renewable energy but are concerned about how much it will cost. Fortunately, the EU has a homegrown solution: renewable ethanol.

A new EuroPulse survey of 26,000 people across 24 EU Member States and the UK finds that Europeans favour an energy transition away from imported fossil oil and toward locally produced renewable energy, but they want governments to make sure it is affordable.

“Affordability is the new fault line in Europe’s energy debate,” according to Project Tempo, the independent, not-for-profit firm that conducted the survey. “Cost is king.”

The poll results are yet another wake-up call for EU policymakers looking to reduce Europe’s dependence on imported fossil oil, boost food security, and ensure a sustainable and competitive economy.

For example, according to the survey Europeans still strongly oppose (by 46% to 27%) a ban on new petrol and diesel cars by 2035. The survey also found that Europeans consider energy independence and air quality to be more important than fighting climate change.

It’s clear that Europeans want flexibility in the energy transition, and that’s where domestically produced energy such as EU renewable ethanol has the most to offer. It’s a ready-made, homegrown energy source that reduces greenhouse-gas emissions from petrol and hybrid cars by more than 80% on average.

EU renewable ethanol is produced sustainably from multipurpose crops grown by European farmers; it causes no deforestation and its production also creates food, animal feed and biogenic CO₂. Several European Commissioners, including the Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, have cited renewable ethanol as an important strategic asset for EU energy independence.

According to recent news reports, France and Germany are trying to reconcile the need for technology flexibility in the EU approach to transport decarbonisation and a desire to favour a made-in-Europe value chain in the drive for energy independence.

Here again, EU ethanol is the answer. It is locally produced, renewable and part of a technology open, flexible approach to reducing car emissions – one that allows all Europeans to take part in fight against climate change without breaking the bank.

When EU policymakers return from their summer holidays they will resume tackling key pieces of legislation, including a revision of car emission standards and the post-2030 renewable energy legal framework.

They now have a clear picture of where the European public stands. It’s time to make the most of sensible, sustainable homegrown solutions such as renewable ethanol.