Von der Leyen’s Green Deal for the EU: Biofuels will be key

European Commission President-elect Ursula von der Leyen has chosen her team and set out her priorities for the EU over the next five years – chief among them the urgent fight against climate change. In promising a much-needed “green deal for Europe”, she has indirectly underlined the importance of sustainable biofuels to achieving EU emissions-reduction goals.

As confirmation hearings get under way for the new von der Leyen team, MEPs should make sure to remind the Commissioner-designates of the importance of finding real-world, European solutions.

As the IEA has pointed out, for the EU to have any hope of achieving its emissions-reduction ambitions, it will need a massive upscaling of bioenergy. In fact, under all the scenarios for decarbonisation in the European Commission’s 2050 strategy, Europe will need a massive increase in both first- and second-generation biofuels in order to make any real impact.

Fortunately, the EU has a chance to do better, starting now, by using more biofuels such as European renewable ethanol.

Blending ethanol into petrol delivers greenhouse gas reductions in today’s cars and infrastructure. By encouraging the use of renewable #ethanol blends such as E10 or E85, Member States could increase the share of renewable energy in transport while also providing an economic boost to European farmers and rural communities. Plus, ethanol refineries also produce high-protein, GMO-free animal feed, reducing the need to import soybeans from abroad.

Find out how much emissions-reduction could be achieved with ethanol using our new interactive CO2 calculator.

Von der Leyen photo: © European Union 2019