SDC report on biofuels calls for 'rigorous' verification procedures
Thu 29 June 2006
View all news
The Sustainable Development Commission, the Government's advisory body on the environment, has published a new report examine the role of biofuels. The report calls for the verification procedures, which accompany the mandatory reporting and proposed standards associated with the RTFO, to be rigorous.
The report also concludes, in the second of three key recommendations, that the DfT must make it clear how the mandatory reporting framework will address complex issues such as the potential for deforestation and societal impacts.
In it's third main recommendation, the SDC proposes that the Renewable Transport Fuels Obligation (RTFO) should be designed with graduated incentives for low carbon fuels from the outset to help stimulate the development of cleaner, 'second-generation' biofuels.
Meanwhile, the European Biodiesel Board (EBB) reports that European Union output of biodiesel rose by 65% to 3.2 million tonnes in 2005 making the EU the world's largest producer.
The EBB expect the rise to continue in 2006, with EU capacity expected to grow to 6.07 million tonnes.
Within the European Union, Germany remained the top biodiesel producer - with output of 1.6 million tonnes last year followed by France (492,000 tonnes).
Biodiesel currently makes up around 80 percent of EU biofuel production. The EBB say that the latest biofuel production figures confirm that the 2 percent global biofuels target for 2005 has not yet been met.
The UK's Biofuels Corporation is close to completion of a major biodiesel production plant on Tees-side.
Related Links
SDC report (download) link
European Biodiesel Board press release link
< Back to news list