EU to Boost Biofuels

BRUSSELS, Belgium — Europe's coming biofuel boom shouldn't come at the expense of tropical rain forests or nature reserves, the European Commission said Wednesday as it set out strict environmental rules for the type of fuel it wants to put into cars.

Aiming to slash greenhouse gas emissions and its reliance on imported oil, the European Union last year set a goal to replace 10 percent of its transport fuel with biofuels made from crops by 2020.

Some of that should come from outside Europe, the EU executive said, but European consumers would find it "morally unacceptable" if using less-polluting fuel leads to the destruction of the environment elsewhere in the world.

Biofuels sold in the EU _ the world's biggest consumer market with 490 million people _ must show that they generate at least 35 percent less greenhouse gas than gasoline and cannot come from land "with recognized high biodiversity value."
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/fn/5478873.html

SAO PAULO, Brazil, Jan. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- The Brazilian Sugar Cane
Industry Association (UNICA) welcomes the proposal by the European
Commission released today as a sensible approach to meet the ambitious
binding targets agreed on by heads of government from the European Union
last March. The draft directive paves the way for biofuels to make up at
least 10% of transport fuels in Europe by 2020, which goes a long way
towards the development and consolidation of a biofuels market in Europe.

The draft directive, which must be approved by the European Parliament
and member states, calls for the development of criteria to ensure biofuels
produce at least 35% less greenhouse gases and are produced in a
sustainable manner based on "the best available scientific evidence and
relevant international norms."

"We welcome regulation that encourages sustainable production in a
cost- effective way," said UNICA President and CEO Marcos Jank.

The Brazilian experience shows that biofuels can make a significant
contribution to the mitigation of Global Warming. In 2007, 45% of all fuel
used by light vehicles was sugarcane ethanol, which allowed Brazil to
reduce its CO2 emissions by 25.8 million tons.

http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&S...