NGOs tell EU to come clean on biofuels

An EU target on the mandatory use of biofuels is being challenged by a coalition of European development and green campaigners.

A group of 17 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) will call tomorrow (11 January) on Andris Piebalgs, the European commissioner for energy, to make "substantial improvements" to a draft directive on renewables to be published on 23 January. In a letter to the commissioner, the NGOs will say that "the signatory organisations are convinced that the current draft proposal will not lead to the production of biofuels being sustainable…[and] this in turn questions the appropriateness of setting a mandatory target for biofuels".

In March 2007, European leaders agreed that 10% of transport fuels should come from biofuels by 2020, "subject to sustainable production", as part of an effort to produce 20% of European energy from renewable sources by 2020.

The NGOs, which include Friends of the Earth and Oxfam, are demanding that Piebalgs reconsider the sustainability criteria for biofuels set out in a draft. The NGOs claim that under the current draft, ecosystems such as savannahs and grasslands could be endangered by the demands of the EU’s target. They also argue that biofuels could harm the world’s poor by increasing food prices and claim that the draft "does not provide any meaningful plan to deal with these issues".

A spokesman for Piebalgs said that the Commission was going to include very strict criteria for the sustainable production of biofuels in the package of 23 January.

MEPs have already called for tighter environmental standards on biofuels. In September 2007, Dorette Corbey, a Dutch Socialist and the Parliament’s rapporteur on the fuel quality directive, called for legally-binding standards on sustainability to be part of the fuel quality directive. Most member states have also supported the idea. Parliament sources are hopeful of getting a first reading agreement with the Council of Ministers on this directive later this year.

Other aspects of the renewables directive, dealing with how the EU meets the overall 20% target, are also likely to get a bumpy ride from member states and MEPs.

Although figures on individual member states targets have not been published in the draft document seen by European Voice, it is understood that all countries will have a mandatory target of 7.75-8%, with further individual targets set at between 13-14% for richer countries and 8-9% for countries with lower gross domestic product (GDP) per person.

Several countries are likely to dispute the target that is set for them by the Commission. A Polish government source said that the Commission’s methodology would lead to Poland having to produce 15% of its energy from renewables by 2020 (in 2005 it produced 5.4% from renewables). A Polish official said: "[It] seems too ambitious a target when taking into account the possibilities of its practical realisation."

Countries that produce a high share of their energy through renewables also have concerns. Latvia has the highest share of renewables in the EU (40% according to 2005 Commission figures), but Latvian officials have concerns about a further increase. A spokeswoman said: "Due to the high share of renewables and foreseen increase of total energy consumption in Latvia in the coming years, any additional commitment to increase the share of renewables could be considered as a challenge."

Under the draft plans, wealthier countries will be able to trade their obligations on renewables with countries that have more potential to produce renewable energy. The draft directive says: "To increase the flexibility of the regime for the promotion of energy from renewable sources and to create opportunities for reducing the cost of achieving the targets, it is appropriate to facilitate the consumption in member states of energy produced from renewable sources in other member states."

One Commission official cited the example of Luxembourg, which has the EU’s highest income per person, but is densely populated. "They have little scope for generating renewables [but could] pay someone else to do it on their behalf," he said.

Claude Turmes, a Luxembourg Green MEP, said that unrestricted trading would take control away from member states. "The risk is that if you introduce trading in renewables you will add another speculative element to the trading market." Turmes also suggested that trading would give more power to utilities companies. "We already have an [energy] market which is much too concentrated. In a trading scheme you bring advantages to big companies."

Oliver Schäfer, a policy director at the industry group the European Renewable Energy Council, said that it would be "a very stupid idea to introduce a trading mechanism…it creates uncertainty, risk and gives more power to the utilities".

Renewable energy’s share in primary energy consumption in EU countries (2005)

Latvia 40.0%

Sweden 29.6%

Finland 22.9%

Austria 21.2%

Denmark 13.9%

Portugal 12.8%

Slovenia 11.0%

Estonia 10.9%

Lithuania 8.9%

Spain 6.0%

France 6.0%

Italy 5.8%

Greece 5.7%

Poland 5.4%

Slovakia 5.4%

Hungary 4.9%

Germany 4.9%

Czech Republic 4.4%

Ireland 2.7%

Netherlands 2.6%

Luxembourg 2.4%

UK 1.6%

Belgium 1.4%

Cyprus 1.0%

Malta 0.3%

EU average 6.4%

Source: EurObserv’ER

An EU target on the mandatory use of biofuels is being challenged by a coalition of European development and green campaigners.