The decision of the European Parliament’s environment committee to phase out support for biodiesel is welcome but doesn’t go far enough to ensure sustainability, a top European environmental NGOs has said.
MEPs voted yesterday evening to ban the use of biodiesel from all vegetable oils by 2030 and of palm oil biodiesel as early as 2021 under the revised Renewable Energy Directive (RED).
While welcoming this decision, Brussel-based Transport and Environment (T&E) said that the proposed blending mandate is too high to be sustainable and will allow for some biodiesel crops to still be used “through the back door”.
Bioethanol and biofuels from crops grown on marginal land were excluded from this phase out. MEPs also voted last night to increase the overall target for advanced fuels to 9 per cent of fuels supplied in 2030.
T&E clean fuels manager Laura Buffet was said that the decision was “good news” for the climate, the world’s rainforests and people around the world “living off their land”.
However, she warned that the vote still “leaves the door open to some food-based biofuels in 2030.”
Source: Green News Ireland
