A roadmap for biofuels...

Abstract

Biofuels have been in the eye of the storm, in particular since 2008, when the food crisis was considered by many to be caused by the increased production of biofuels. Heavy criticism in public media made various governments, including the European Commission, reconsider their targets and ambitions for biofuels. A year after the climax of the food (and biofuels) crisis, the debate around biofuels has calmed down to quite an extent. The fierce debate has in the meantime translated into strong policy action: sustainability schemes for biomass and biofuel production are developed and implemented around the globe. Dozens of systems are developed by governments, NGOs and stakeholder initiatives, such as the various Roundtables. The Renewable Energy Directive of the European Commission contains one of the most comprehensive proposals to date and is backed by strong legislation: for biofuels, meeting sustainability criteria will be a prerequisite to be counting towards the obligatory targets. In addition, there is a heavy emphasis in Europe, the United States, but also key countries like China on the rapid development of second generation biofuels in order to further develop a sustainable biofuels industry that can cover a significant share of the worlds transport fuel needs. Such modified policies are also backed by the International Energy Agency’s Energy Technology Perspectives report, that projects a dominant role for 2nd generation biofuels in the medium (2030) term.