EP Committee on Environment denies prospects for domestic biofuels

Berlin, 27 October 2017 – The Union for the Promotion of Oil and Protein Plants (UFOP) expresses its disappointment in the result of the vote in the European Parliament's Committee on Environment concerning the biofuel policy for the period from 2020 to 2030. As a result of the decision, biofuels made from cultivated biomass are to be completely phased out by 2030. Biodiesel made from rapeseed oil could no longer be sold on the market as of 2021.

The introduction of iLUC factors for taking into account indirect land use changes is a highly controversial topic among the scientific community. A reliable scientific basis for a legal regulation does not exist currently. Taking into account the iLUC factors for vegetable oil biofuels will have the result that legally required GHG savings of at least 60 % are no longer being possible to achieve. This would lead to the end of today's vegetable oil-based biofuels.

The decision of the Committee on Environment specifically affects European rapeseed producers. From UFOP’s perspective, iLUC factors addresses palm oil, however, they primarily concern European rapeseed cultivation (6.5 mio. t of European rapeseed oil was produced from the 11 mio. t of EU biodiesel.

UFOP is also concerned that the EP Committee on Environment in particular is clearly not aware that a narrowing of options for the future use of biomass is also being created in other areas of application with the introduction of iLUC factors in the biofuels sector. Similarly, it is incomprehensible that the European Parliament is currently being calling for an European strategy on proteins, while the Committee on Environment wants to withdraw the production of Europe’s most important domestic protein source – rapeseed meal – and take away the basis of a livelihood with its vote this week.

Source: UFOP
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