Commission’s proposal to phase out conventional biofuels ignores science and jeopardises biofuel investments

The European renewable ethanol association (ePURE) regrets the European Commission’s intentions to phase out, or significantly reduce, the use of conventional biofuels in Europe, contained in the proposed Renewable Energy Directive for the period post-2020, published as part of the “Clean Energy Package” today. The Commission proposed to reduce the maximum contribution of conventional biofuels, such as ethanol made from corn, wheat and sugar beet, to the EU 2030 renewable target - from a maximum of 7% of transport fuels in 2021 to 3.8% in 2030. The Commission also proposed a binding blending obligation of 6.8 % to promote other ‘low emissions fuels’ such as renewable electricity and advanced biofuels used in transport.