EU to vote on whether to scrap its biofuel goals
It looks like the European Union might be rethinking their stance on getting 10% of their fuel from Biofuels by 2010.
Amid worries over food shortages and the destruction of huge tracts of rain forest to grow fuel crops, governments have begun backing away from their earlier enthusiasm for biofuels. The European Union is about to vote on whether to scrap its commitment to source 10 per cent of transport fuel from biofuels by 2010. In the UK, the government is digesting a report from the Renewable Fuels Agency which predicts that current policy will push grain prices in the EU up by 15 per cent, sugar by 7 per cent and oilseed by 50 per cent; the government is now considering amending its own targets. And in global terms, World Bank president Robert Zoellick has urged the G8 leaders to rethink the tariffs, tax breaks and subsidies that are fuelling the growth of biofuel crops.
The only reason I bring this up is because just this past Sunday, I mentioned how the EU’s goal of 10% biofuels has affected other country’s agricultural habits. Take a look (under the “Bad for Biodiversity” section).
