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EU Biofuels Chain: The not-so-secret solution to decarbonising EU transport

07.10.2020

Sustainable biofuels are already making a big dent in Europe’s dependence on fossil fuel but should be empowered to do even more. With the right policy priorities, the EU Biofuels Value Chain writes in a new article in EURACTIV, Europe can achieve new, higher emissions-reduction goals.

As part of its claim to be the world leader in the fight against climate change, the European Commission has made a bold move in proposing to raise its ambitions for emissions-reductions over the next decade and aim for carbon-neutrality by 2050.

Delivering on those ambitions will require a massive rethinking of the way the EU approaches renewable energy, clean mobility, and energy taxation policy.

Fortunately, the EU already has some strong foundations on which to build, including a solution that keeps getting better at reducing emissions from transport but doesn’t always get talked about as part of Europe’s “future energy mix”: certified sustainable biofuels.

Crop-based biofuels are currently the number-one source of renewable energy in transport, helping reduce EU dependence on fossil fuel and on imported animal feed. The question of their sustainability – for example, whether biofuel production contributes to deforestation – has been debated and answered.

The EU has decided which biofuels are sustainable and which should be phased out.

It’s time to focus on making the most of the sustainable ones – and that includes crop-based renewable biodiesel and renewable ethanol made in the EU.

Read the full article in EURACTIV.

Read the full position paper from the EU Biofuels Chain here.

The EU Biofuels Value Chain includes the following associations: CEFS (sugar manufacturers); CEPM (the maize chain); C.I.B.E. (sugar beet growers); COCERAL (trade in cereals, oilseeds, pulses, olive oil, oils and fats); Copa and Cogeca (farmers and agri-cooperatives); EBB (European Biodiesel Board); EOA (European Oilseed Alliance); ePURE (European renewable ethanol association); and FEDIOL (vegetable oil and protein meal industry).

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