25 February, Brussels – The European Commission is delaying publication of a report on greenhouse gas emissions as a result of indirect land use change (ILUC) caused by biofuels production. The report was based on new modelling and examines ILUC not only from energy crops, but also from advanced feedstocks, including agricultural residues such as straw.
The Commission received the study from the GLOBIUM consortium (Ecofys, IIASA and E4Tech) back in August of 2015, but is unlikely to publish it until the end of 2016. It is understood that the Commission is wary of relaunching the ILUC debate whilst it is in the early stages of preparing a new bio-energy sustainability policy, as well as a climate policy for transport.
The study has been criticised by the European Biodiesel Board, the vegetable oil lobby FEDIOL and the European Oilseed Alliance, who say that the study is not transparent, as the model used is not publicly available.
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