Industry leaders form sustainable European biofuels coalition

The CEOs of seven European biofuel producers and airlines launched a new industry-led initiative to speed up the deployment of advanced sustainable biofuels throughout the continent.

The initiative, called Leaders of Sustainable Biofuels, is made up of Chemtex, British Airways, BTG, Chemrec, Clariant, Dong Energy and UPM as they seek to ensure market uptake of advanced sustainable biofuels by all transport sectors.

In a statement the group says second-generation biofuels can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 65%. During a meeting in Brussels, all parties established a common strategy based on several actions aimed at accelerating market penetration and technology deployment, particularly to:

• Accelerate research and innovation into emerging biofuel technologies, including algae and new conversion pathways, supported by public and private R&D programmes
• Work together with the supply chain to further develop worldwide accepted sustainability certification
• Establish financing structures to facilitate the implementation of sustainable biofuel projects
• Publicly promote the benefits of advanced sustainable biofuels.

‘We also plan to address national policy makers, the European Commission and the European Parliament with a single voice, and invite the rest of the sustainable biofuels industry to follow us on the same path,’ the statement continued. ‘We believe second generation biofuels are also key for the reduction of fossil energy imports in the EU.’