Farmers’ anger at ‘incoherent’ cap on food-based biofuels
THE EU’s latest renewable energy law — which includes a cap on food-based biofuels — has been met with a backlash from farmers.
The agreement commits the EU to getting 32pc of its energy from renewables, such as solar or wind, by 2030. And it requires 14pc of all energy in the transport sector to come from renewables, with a 7pc cap on the amount of food-based biofuels that count towards the 2030 target.
The 32pc target is five percentage points higher than the European Commission’s original proposal, and could even be hiked after a review in 2023.
EU farmers’ federation Copa Cogeca says food-based biofuels, particularly cereals, provide additional income for farmers as prices are falling.
“EU food-based biofuels help to stabilise agricultural commodity markets and provide an incentive for farmers to stay in business,” said Copa Cogeca president Pekka Pesonen. “This benefits the production of food, feed and biofuels.”
The Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association (ICSA) called the deal “the worst type of incoherent policy making, where neither the interests of European agriculture nor significant reductions in transport emissions have prevailed”.
“While this is bad for climate change, it is even worse for farmers in Europe,” said ICSA president Patrick Kent, who said it was “undermining an outlet for EU farm produce worth over €6bn per annum”. EU rules require biofuels to be sustainable, and the most harmful ones — palm oil and soybean, which contribute to massive deforestation in Africa, Latin American and southeast Asia — will have to be reduced from 2020, and phased out completely by 2030. Advanced biofuels — those made from waste, residues or forest-based feedstock such as tall oil or pulpwood — will still be allowed. But Copa Cogeca has warned the sustainability require- ments could pose legal burdens for forestry sector.
Ireland gets around 10pc of its energy from renewables, and is set to miss its 2020 target of 16pc. It is counting on biofuels to help it meet a 10pc sub-target for the transport sector, where it was hitting only 5pc in 2016.
There are no individual national targets for 2030. All EU countries must aim for the same goal.
Climate minister Denis Naughten told his EU counterparts last week that Ireland would focus on developing advanced biofuels and boost the use of electric vehicles.
However, in Ireland, as in the rest of Europe, the majority of vehicles will continue to run on liquid fuels, including EU cropbased biofuels, the Commission has admitted.