EU to ban biofuels grown in forests, grasslands, or wetlands; will impose a minimum greenhouse gas savings level; palm oil, US corn ethanol, Brazilian sugarcane ethanol imports in jeopardy

The European Union is expected to publish a draft law next week banning the importation of biofuels grown in forests, grassland or wetlands, and deliver a minimum of greenhouse gas emission reductions. The ban is expected to affect palm oil based imports due to deforestation, South American ethanol and biodiesel with grassland or forest land use issues, and US corn ethanol due to lower emissions savings.

Last week, a consortium of 17 non-governmental organizations called on EU Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs to require sustainability standards for biofuel production or eliminate biofuels mandates.

The NGOs were responding to a draft biofuels mandate for the EU which will be finalized later this month and raises the use of biofuels to 10 percent of all fuels by 2020. The NGOs said that the plan did not fully address water shortage and deforestation issues. The NGOs called for a ban on the use of sugar cane, corn, and some varieties of canola and palm oils in biofuels production. The NGOs proposed threshold, that only feedstocks producing a minimum savings of 50 percent in CO2, has won significant support in the European Parliament.

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