European Commission adopts action plan to increase use of biomass for energy and transport
Fri 12 August 2005
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The European Commission has adopted an action plan to increase the use of energy from forestry, agriculture and waste materials in order to cut greenhouse gas emissions and improve energy security.
The Biomass Action Plan announces over 20 actions for three key sectors of energy consuption: heating, electricity and transport, to be implemented from 2006 onwards.
For transport biofuels, the plan includes the promotion of “biofuels obligations” through which suppliers include a minimum proportion of biofuels in the conventional fuel they place on the market.
In 2006, the Commission aims to bring forward a possible revision of the Biofuels Directive.This will examine the implementation of the Directive in Member States.
The EU market share of biofuels is currently 0.8%; still well below the 2010 target of 5.75% that was set in 2003 for the EU as a whole.
The plan includes proposals on the tightening of fuel standards for biomass. It also aims to promote investment in research, in particular in making liquid fuels out of wood and waste materials; and the running of information campaigns to inform farmers and forest owners about energy crops.
The Commission estimates that the measures in the plan will increase the use of biomass to about 150 Mtoe by 2010 - compared with 69 Mtoe in 2003 - without increasing the intensity of agriculture or significantly affecting domestic food production. It says that this will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 209 million tons CO2–equivalent per year.
Related Links
EU press release
EU Biomass Action Plan download link
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