Development campaigners have welcomed a major shift in European biofuel policy after the commission said it plans to limit crop-based biofuels to 5% of transport fuel.
"Finally the European commissioners have come to their senses," said Clare Coffey, policy adviser at ActionAid. "They are firmly acknowledging that using precious food and agricultural land to fuel our cars is bad for people and bad for the environment. In a world where a billion go to bed hungry every night, that is immoral." Record high global grain prices have intensified calls for changes in EU and US biofuel policies, criticised for taking grain that could be used for food.
The EU climate commissioner, Connie Hedegaard, and the energy commissioner, Günther Oettinger, confirmed in a joint statement on Monday they wanted to cap the use of crop-based fuel.
"It is wrong to believe that we are pushing food-based biofuels," the commissioners said. "In our upcoming proposal for ...