Biofuels must not become the poor relation of renewables, says Fischer Boel
'Biofuels are our only realistic hope for significantly reducing our dependence on oil in the transport sector over the next 15 years. Therefore, we must not let them become the poor relation of other forms of renewable energy,' EU Agriculture and Rural Development Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel said on 12 January. The Commission is convinced of the value of biofuels, and has adopted various measures to encourage their take-up. These include a 2003 directive on biofuels targets, an action plan, an EU strategy on a regulated market approach to biofuels, aid for those growing energy crops, and the rural development policy. Ultimately however, it is individual countries that must create the necessary infrastructure for biofuels and introduce incentives for their use. Currently, biofuels are more expensive than other forms of renewable energy, which goes some way to explaining why EU Member States have often favoured other forms of renewable energy. But for the transport sector, biofuels are the key to a sustainable future, Ms Fischer Boel believes. The Commission's goal is to see 20% of the EU's energy coming from renewable sources by 2020. The current figure is less than 7%. By 2020, biofuels should also account for at least 10% of the EU's transport fuel usage. The target is attainable, said Ms Fischer Boel. However, while developing the biofuels market in the present is extremely important, so is the pursuit of new knowledge and technology that will boost the biofuels market of the future. 'It's important to realise that we are not waiting for technology to lead us to some future pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. We must respond now to the challenges we face - with first-generation biofuels, as these are what we have available. The transition to a low-carbon economy cannot wait,' said the Commissioner. 'Nevertheless, we can reasonably hope that research will unlock the door to better, more cost-effective fuels. So while we develop the biofuels market in the present, we must also keep up the pace of our research. This is an essential aspect of our strategic approach,' the Commissioner continued. The Commission is not alone in its enthusiasm for biofuels - Asian and Pacific countries are well on their way to creating a biofuels market. Leaders from the South East Asian countries, Australia, New Zealand, India, Japan, China and South Korea signed an agreement on 15 January in which they agreed to reduce their dependence on conventional sources of energy, and to promote biofuels. But there is also scepticism. Some environmental organisations believe that the production of biofuels may actually do more harm than good. They argue that the West may start to rely on poorer countries to feed their automobile culture, growing vast biofuel crops in the place of food crops. The change in crops could also have important ramifications for natural ecosystems. Critics also argue that it takes more energy to produce biofuels than is contained in the fuels themselves, that building the infrastructure needed around the plantations will lead to environmental damage, that the chemicals used on the plantations can harm human health, and that the use of genetically modified crops to produce biofuels is controversial. The second generation of biofuels envisaged by the Commission, which would use sources such as straw, timber, woodchips or manure, would go some way towards solving these problems.