The Political and Environmental Landscape for Biofuels in the EU Transport Sector

This brief provides an update of the environmental landscape and legislation surrounding biofuels. It considers the current controversies surrounding biofuel supply and outlines how this has impacted political support for the fuel at a national and EU level.

Scope of this report

• An overview of the EU legislation governing biofuels and a review of how Member States have adapted road fuel policies accordingly
• Analysis of the environmental arguments against biofuels including the views of Member States regarding EU targets
• An evaluation of the proposals being put forward to make biofuels more sustainable and the relative support for these measures in different countries

Research and analysis highlights Despite all EU Member States having set targets for biofuels consumption, they have generally been unsuccessful at meeting them. Indeed, in 2006 only seven of the 25 EU Member States met their targets: Germany, Austria, UK, Sweden, Romania, Denmark and Luxembourg. Bulgaria, Italy and Slovakia missed their targets by widest margins.

Controversies surrounding the production of energy crops have weakened enthusiasm for biofuels targets amongst politicians. The core criticisms surround the negative effects that the cultivation of energy crops is said to have on the environment and food prices. As a result many countries have called for the legislation to be reviewed.

Whilst biofuels consumption targets are expected to remain, efforts are being made to reduce the negative impact of biofuels production. It is most likely that legislation will require targets to be contingent on energy crops being produced from a sustainable source. As such, fuel retailers are likely to be required to certify the biofuels they sell.

Key reasons to read this report

• Understand the key legislation surrounding targets for the use of biofuels and how it been interpreted by national governments.
• Gauge where the demand for biofuels is highest and where political support for their use will continue to be strongest
• Assess how Member States are reconsidering the importance of targets due to the criticisms of biofuels production and plan investments accordingly.

[CLICK HERE TO VIEW] or download the table of contents of this report.

[CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE] the report ‘The Political and Environmental Landscape for Biofuels in the EU Transport Sector’