Biofuel issues in the new legislation on the promotion of renewable energy

Consultation period: 16/05/2007 - 18/06/2007

On 10 January 2007 the European Commission made proposals for a new Energy Policy for Europe. These included a renewable energy roadmap proposing:

• a binding 20% target for the overall share of renewable energy in 2020 – the effort to be shared in an appropriate way between Member States;
• a binding 10% target for the share of biofuels in petrol and diesel in each Member State in 2020, to be accompanied by the introduction of a sustainability scheme for biofuels.

The Commission is now drafting proposals to incorporate these targets in legislation.

In doing so, the Commission will take into account the views of stakeholders as expressed in last year's consultation exercises on heating and cooling and biofuels and the recent consultation exercise on administrative obstacles to the increased use of renewable energy in electricity generation.

The present consultation document complements those exercises. The Commission would like to know the views of public authorities, businesses, non-governmental organisations and other interested parties on the following questions:

• How should a biofuel sustainability system be designed?
• How should overall effects on land use be monitored?
• How should the use of second-generation biofuels be encouraged?
• What further action is needed to make it possible to achieve a 10% biofuel share?

The rest of the document explains the questions in more detail.