Biofuels advocates claim EU commission will ‘kill’ industry

EU cabinet ministers have been receiving ‘catastrophic warnings’ from biofuels associations and companies in regard to European Commission (EC) proposals surrounding indirect greenhouse gas emissions caused by fuel crops.

It has been reported by news service EurActiv that as many as three e-mails an hour were being sent in and that minutes of a cabinet coordination meeting had registered the ‘strong concern’ from the industry.

Several e-mails spoke of the ‘death of the biofuels industry’ and another claimed around 450,000 jobs would be affected.

EurActiv also stated that, after viewing documents via an access to information request, at least one EC directorate argued for kicking the proposal ‘into the long grass’.

This all revolves around the draft EU law announced last October which would see the end of support for first generation biofuels throughout the continent. Despite calls for a delay, the proposal and a 5% cap on blended fuel towards the EU’s 2020 target went ahead.

A spokesperson on behalf of EU commissioner Marie Geoghegan-Quinn said she ‘fully supported the proposals and still champions the ILUC evidence prvided by the EU’s joint research centre’.