European Commission backs European Biofuels Technology Platform in bid to develop R&D agenda

The European Commission has backed a European Biofuels Technology Platform initiative to bring industry and academics together to develop a long-term R&D agenda for biofuels. Members include the Imperial College London, Defra’s Central Science Laboratory and the Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership.

The group intends to launch their research agenda on January 31st, following policy directives from the EU that will be issued this week.

The European Commission’s Joint Research Center has drafted a study that said that increasing the use of biofuels in Europe would incur costs of $50-$100 billion that “will almost certainly outweigh the benefits.” The study also says that it is not possible to say whether “the EU 10 per cent biofuel target will save greenhouse gas or not.” The 10 percent target was proposed last year as part of an overall plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions in 2020 by 20 percent (from 1990 levels).

Part of the cost issue in Europe is related not directly to biofuels, but to agricultural tariffs policies. In Italy, the chairman of the Global Bioenergy Partnership said that the food vs. fuel issue will only be resolved if the United States and Europe drop their protectionist agricultural policies and help developing nations produce biofuels. Corrado Clini, who was speaking at the World Energy Congress, said that there should be international rules on production standards to prevent environmental damage.

Key EU agricultural organisations (Copa-Cogeca, EOA, UFOP) have recently indicated that  future biodiesel demand can be viably met from EU-originated raw materials.

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