EU to introduce punitive tariffs on US biodiesel, ban some palm oil biodiesel, establish emissions savings threshold of 25 percent

The European Union will introduce measures today to establish punitive tariffs on US biofuel imports and require a 35 percent carbon emission reduction from any feedstock allowed to be used in biofuel production. Canola oil, which is Europe’s feedstock of choice, has a 37 percent emission savings. It is expected that the EU will ban palm oil made on plantations established after 2003.

The draft law will ban the importation of biofuels grown in forests, grassland or wetlands, and 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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