EU ministers 'discover' biofuels not an obligation

0 Comments | AFP, July, 2008

PARIS (AFP) — European Union energy ministers announced during an informal meeting Saturday that they had been labouring for 18 months under the false impression that an EU plan to fight global warming included an obligation to develop controversial biofuels.

Documents issued by the EU since the ambitious energy and climate plan was unveiled in January 2007 have consistently said 10 percent of all vehicle fuel by 2020 would come from fuels made from plants.

The vast majority of biofuels in production today are extracted from corn and sugar crops.

"The member states realised that the Commission's plan specifies that 10 percent of transport needs must come from renewable energy, not 10 percent from biofuels," Jean-Louis Borloo, the French environment and...