UFOP welcomes EU vote to exclude palm oil for biofuel use

April 17, 2017

BY UFOP

The European Parliament has approved the initiative report on the subject “Palm oil and the uprooting of rainforests” with an overwhelming majority. The European Parliament supports the move to exclude palm oil as a raw material for energetic use from 2020, at the same time acknowledging the sustainability of biofuels made from oil plants (rapeseed and sunflower) grown within Europe.

The Union for the Promotion of Oil and Protein Plants (UFOP) especially welcomes the decision and the request of the European Parliament to the EU Commission to establish regulations for excluding palm oil for energetic use from 2020. UFOP stresses that this step is long overdue with reference to the criticism repeatedly expressed by UFOP that the consumer countries permit slash-and-burn deforestation despite the public sustainability debate on the future orientation of biofuel policy. However, the report explicitly certifies the sustainability for rapeseed and sunflowers if they are produced in the EU.

At the same time, these crop types are by far the most important domestic and GM-free protein source for animal feed, UFOP emphasized. In 2015, for the first time more rapeseed meal than soya meal was used in Germany. The driving force of this demand is the increase in dairy products, eggs and beef products, which are distinguished by the label “without genetic modification.”

Advertisement

Rapeseed and sunflowers are unparalleled as bloomers in Northern and Southern Europe with their positive effects in crop rotations. However, the achieved acreage can only be economically stabilized if the biofuel market remains open as a sales option for sustainably certified rapeseed oil after 2020. UFOP demands that the cap for biofuels made from cultivated biomass already politically coordinated in the [Indirect Land Use Change (iLUC)] Directive in 2015 remains unchanged at 7 percent after 2020. However, the cap must be limited to crop types that at the same time supply high-quality protein or other high-quality animal feed as a byproduct. UFOP recalls that, with the iLUC Directive, the member states are already authorized to define a lower cap nationally.

Instead of this, the commission shall acknowledge the criticism expressed in the report on the quality of the certification systems approved by the commission and implementation by the certification bodies to improve and inspect the sustainability criteria, confirmed the UFOP. With the “GRAS Tool” promoted by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, a process-related sustainability certification beginning on the cultivated area or plantation is already possible through satellite monitoring. The mapping of the acquisition of land of small-scale farmers called for in the report could also be implemented in due course, emphasized UFOP.

Advertisement

Related Stories

A group of 28 House members on May 16 sent a letter to President Donald Trump urging his administration to adopt timely, robust Renewable Fuel Standard renewable volume obligations (RVOs) for 2026 and beyond.

Read More

A bill to formally adopt a revenue certainty mechanism to support the production of SAF was introduced in the U.K. Parliament on May 14. The proposed scheme is in the form of a guaranteed strike price.

Read More

Delta Air Lines on May 7 announced its strong support for new bipartisan, bicameral legislation that will accelerate the growth of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in Michigan. The bill aims to create a SAF tax credit of up to $2 per gallon.

Read More

The U.S. EPA on May 14 delivered two RFS rulemakings to the White House OMB, beginning the interagency review process. One rule focuses on RFS RVOs and the other focuses on a partial waiver of the 2024 cellulosic RVO.

Read More

U.S. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin on May 15 told members of the House Appropriations Committee that the agency is working as quickly as it can to take action on the backlog of RFS small refinery exemption (SRE) petitions.

Read More

Upcoming Events

Sign up for our e-newsletter!

Advertisement

Advertisement