European biodiesel supply chain wants policymakers to be wary of ILUC methodology

In Belgium, prominent researchers have underlined the benefits of biodiesel as well as their reservations regarding the readiness of the ILUC science for EU policymaking. The EBB, EOA and FEDIOL call on EU decision makers to safeguard existing investments from the introduction of ILUC methodology, be it for reporting or accounting.

Alexandre Gohin (INRA) highlighted that land use changes cannot be directly observed and that choices on data and parameters in economic models have dramatic effects on ILUC assessments. For example, using OECD-FAO figures for crop yield responses in the fully transparent and public GTAP-BIO model leads to 80 percent lower ILUC figures for biodiesel, compared to those produced by the opaque IFPRI model used by the commission.

From an international perspective, Fred Ghatala (International Standards Organization) reminded that after reviewing 161 publications, ISO had a consensus that ILUC science is inconclusive and unable to assign causality to biofuels. ISO therefore decided not to include ILUC into standards until the science is more developed.