A Committee of MEPs voted to introduce a cap on crop-based biofuels on Tuesday. The European Parliament’s Environment Committee voted to endorse a hotly contested cap of 7 percent on ‘first generation’ biofuels.

Moves to prevent the proportion of biofuels in Europe’s transport fuel from rising above 7 percent are intended to prevent more virgin crops being used to produce fuel. There are widespread concerns that the increased production of biofuel feedstocks means land will have to be converted elsewhere to maintain food production. It is suggested that, once this indirect land use change (ILUC) has been factored into production, many biofuels are just as bad for the climate as the fossil fuels they are intended to replace - in some cases, they could be even worse.

The cap is also intended to support production of ‘second generation’ biofuels, made from agricultural waste products, algae and other materials. However, many of these fuels are still in the early stages of development.

Proposed action on crop-based biofuels has been opposed by industry lobbies, including the major farm groups, who urged MEPs against endorsing the cap.

The measures will be discussed and voted on for a final time by the EU Parliament as a whole on 29th April, and the NFU is already increasing pressure on MEPs to reject the cap. As well as the NFU, which contests ILUC calculation and claims the plans risk exposing farmers to market volatility (through narrowing the biofuels market for wheat, oilseed rape and sugar beet), biofuel manufacturers claim that a stricter cap on first generation fuels will hamper EU attempts to ensure ten percent of energy is generated from renewable sources by 2020.

the NFU also claims that, as animal feed can be made from the by-products of biofuels, the ‘food vs fuel’ debate which has led to increased scrutiny of crop-based biofuels is invalid.

On Tuesday, MEPs in the Envi Committee decided to bring the limits on crop-based biofuels down from ten percent to 7 percent by a vote of 51 to 12, with one abstention. They also voted to adopt ILUC calculations to assess the sustainability of biofuels. Under proposals approved by the Committee on Tuesday, the Commission will collect and publish data on ILUC-related emissions. EU member states will also have to introduce targets for sustainable second generation biofuel production.  
 
Speaking earlier this week,  NFU’s Brett Askew claimed, “Legislators have clearly been bullied into this U-turn by a series of environmental and social pressure groups that, until recently, stood shoulder to shoulder with industry and praised the potential contribution of biofuels in decarbonising the transport sector.”

As long ago as 2008, voices within the EU began calling for a cap on crop-based biofuels, whilst the Union has continued to offer billions of Euros annually in support for the controversial fuels.