EU encourages action on advanced biofuels

Leaders of Sustainable Biofuels (LSB), an industry coalition to promote advanced biofuels, met on 4 December at the European Parliament with Members of the European Parliament, Commission representatives, and stakeholders in Brussels.

LSB, which is chaired by UPM's Marko Janhunen, is pushing for a strong EU-wide sub-target for advanced biofuels in the context of ILUC directive.

Marie Donnelly, director, European Commission DG Energy stresses the importance of the role of biofuels: 'The 40% target of greenhouse gas reduction cannot be achieved without a strong contribution from the transport sector – biofuels will be an essential part of this challenge.'

'We need to build a bridge from ILUC debate towards 2030 policy of reducing transport emissions. The industry needs long term security,' emphasises Nils Torvalds, the key note speaker and a Member of the European Parliament. 

The sector demands the commercialisation of new technologies, but investments are not taking place as regulations continue to remain in the balance. 'As the rest of the world is moving forward with investments, the US and China in particular, we are shooting ourselves in the foot by not creating the right conditions for investments to materialise,' Janhunen continues.

'The European Parliament has now a great opportunity to move things forward. By promoting the sub-target for advanced biofuels and making it more binding, and also by ensuring that policy measures go beyond 2020, we trust that investor confidence can be gained,' Janhunen concludes.