EU policy changes spark fears in the biofuel industry

New legislation to limit food-based biofuels to five per cent across the EU have been a huge blow to the biodiesel industry.

The change means that progress in the industry will be stifled, with companies having the inability to expand.

"We are not closing down the existing [biodiesel] industry," Connie Hedegaard, European commissioner for Climate Action, told the Guardian.

"What they produce they can continue to produce," she said.

As well as prohibiting the chances of improvements to the industry, widespread fears that thousands working in the trade will lose their jobs have been sparked.

The European Biodiesel Board (EBB), an industry body, has said that the changes could represent more than simply lost jobs and lack of progress. EBB claims that the shift could probe a "catastrophic" end to the EU biodiesel sector.

EBB also said that a five per cent ceiling to food-based biofuels would force countries such as Germany and France, where biodiesel represents up to seven per cent of the diesel market, to immediately cut back on usage.

Despite the industry recently coming under criticism, the shift seems to have come as a shock to the EBB, as well as a complete disappointment.

"After having consistently promoted...biofuels progress, the commission seems...ready to oblige these countries to regress and diminish their biofuels production," EBB said in a statement.

Additionally, EBB believes that this measure would limit the amount of renewable fuels blended into fossil fuels. This would inevitably hinder the expansion of large scale biofuels production.

The shift is however welcomed by green campaigners, who see the move as a step towards addressing the negative impacts of the biofuels sector.

Posted by Claire Manning