Euro producers rocked by leaked plan to limit crop-based biofuels

European biofuel producers have been stunned by a leaked EU draft proposal to impose a limit on the use of crop-based biofuels.

If approved, the EU’s policy shift will effectively endorse some environmental analysts’ views that crop-based biofuels compete with biofuels and are, as a result, less climate-friendly than initially believed. The move will also see an end to EU supports for an industry which has grown to be worth €17bn annually.

Under the proposals, biofuels made from crops would be limited to 5% of total energy consumption in EU transport in 2020. Crop-based fuel consumption currently accounts for about 4.5% of total EU transport fuel demand.