G7 countries confirm commitment to biofuels as vital to decarbonisation

The world’s leading economic powers this week confirmed the need for sustainable biofuels to decarbonise transport, calling them vital to “swiftly and substantially reducing GHG emissions from the global fleet” of vehicles.

In a declaration issued Sunday after a ministerial meeting in Sapporo, Japan, the G7 countries reaffirmed their “commitment to a highly decarbonized road sector by 2030” and pledged “to promote associated infrastructure and sustainable carbon-neutral fuels including sustainable bio- and synthetic fuels.”

In order to decarbonize fuels, the countries said, “we will assess developments in technologies such as FCEVs, PHEVs, low-carbon and sustainable carbon-neutral fuels including biofuels and synthetic fuels.”

This was seen as clear signal to keep biofuels in the picture – especially in Europe, where the auto fleet will continue to include petrol and hybrid cars well beyond 2035, according to the latest industry data.

As Italian Environment Minister Gilberto Pichetto said in a report from news agency ANSA, "I believe that as early as tomorrow we need to restart the dialogue with European countries in order to arrive at the best solutions with certain scientific data” about biofuels, which “contribute to a strong decarbonisation of the automotive sector.”

As ePURE Director General David Carpintero put it, “Europe still needs more than one solution to achieve meaningful transport de-fossilisation. Even in the future, the EU should take advantage of important synergies between renewable fuels and synthetic fuels delivering emissions reductions in the cars that Europeans will continue to drive for many years to come.”