Biofuels are capped, but the job isn't done

The European Parliament has today voted to approve a cap on the use of first generation biofuels, those from land-based crops. This cap places an important restriction on the use of a form of energy that can put wildlife at risk and in some cases be more polluting than the conventional fuels it is designed to replace.

The RSPB has been working on biofuels for a number of years because of the threat they pose to wildlife and the evidence that Indirect Land Use Change can result in large, unaccounted for greenhouse gas emissions.

This cap sends a strong signal that there is no future for the worst of all biofuels.

But the job is not done, and bioenergy more widely is increasingly being used across the EU to provide heat and electricity. In the UK, for example, Drax power station imported around four million tonnes of wood pellets last year, gathered from forests in the Southeastern US, to burn for energy.

Ten NGOs, including BirdLife, have today launched a series of recommendations for a sustainable biomass policy for the EU’s post-2020 climate and energy plans.

Among the recommendations are:

-          Properly accounting for all emissions from biomass. The EU and the UK Government currently don’t require accounting of the emissions caused by burning biomass, including trees. In many cases these emissions could make biomass worse than the fossil fuels they’re designed to replace.

-          Placing a cap on the amount of biomass that can be burned in line with the available sustainable supply.

-          Ensuring strict and binding sustainability criteria for biomass. This would ensure that where biomass is grown or harvested it is done so in a manner that doesn’t harm wildlife or natural ecosystems.

The full report goes into more detail, and if you want to read it you can find it here.