European Biofuels to 2020 and Beyond

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Executive summary (excerpt)

Europe urgently needs to change gear in its ambitions to develop a market for transport biofuels in the coming decade. Liquid fuels of one form or another will remain the major source of energy for transport in 2020 and beyond, as other alternatives to oil – renewable electricity, hydrogen cells – struggle to deliver equivalently effective energy solutions. Biofuels are of course not without their own problems – there is no doubt that some perform better than others in terms of climate change performance and also in terms of how cultivation of their feedstocks competes with other uses of land. But, the central question remains: to what extent will Europe reduce dependency on oil for transportation over the next decade and beyond – and what role can biofuels play? We believe that Europe needs to look to biofuels (alongside other options) to face the twin challenges of the approaching energy crisis of diminishing oil supplies and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.