ePURE responds to the Commission’s public consultation on a sustainable policy for bioenergy post 2020

ePURE has submitted its response to the ongoing public consultation on the sustainability of bioenergy. The consultation, which ran until 10 May, will guide the European Commission in its preparation of an updated policy on the sustainability of bioenergy and biofuels for the period 2020-2030, as part of the EU renewable energy legislative proposal(s) due by end of 2016.

In its response, ePURE detailed the reasons why European renewable ethanol is a sustainable option to reduce emissions in the transport sector. One of the successes of the Renewable Energy Directive is that, in order to count towards the energy and climate targets, biofuels sold in the European market must comply with strict sustainability criteria, a system that is unique in the world and should be maintained. Going forward, what is needed is:

- For the sustainability criteria to apply to all biomass irrespective of the end use if its demand is incentivized by policy;
- For the policy to further incentivise those forms of energy that deliver high greenhouse gas savings and have recognised low or no risk of ILUC.