EU agrees 7% cap on growing crops for transport biofuels

MEPs last week officially rubber-stamped an EU shift away from biofuel crops to alternative sources, such as seaweed or waste, in order to cut greenhouse gas emissions caused by land use for biofuel crops.

The controversial revision of EU biofuels legislation, agreed by MEPs, the EU Council and EU Commission, sets how much crop-based biofuel can be used to fulfil the EU’s renewable fuel target for transport.

It puts a 7% cap on transport fuels made from crop-based fuels, instead of a 5% limit proposed by the EU Commission, and establishes EU and national advanced biofuel targets of 0.5%, which are non-binding,