E85 Boondoggle of the Day: EU Cuts Biofuel Goals, Blocks U.S. Corn Juice

Foodstock-based, first-gen biofuels are becoming increasingly unpopular. And so the European Union (EU) has cut– er, “modified” biofuel goals. Last year, the EU committed to increasing biofuel transport usage to ten percent by 2020. The International Herald-Tribune reports that the goal has been ratified, but a number of caveats have been added. The new plan calls for five percent of transport fuels to be derived from renewable sources by 2015, with at least a fifth of that amount from “new alternatives that do not compete with food production.” When biofuel usage hits ten percent in 2020, 40 percent of that amount will have to come from second-gen, non-foodstock fuels. That goal will be reviewed in 2014. Of course, these plans are worrying biofuel producers; they’re stepping-up a publicity campaign warning that “alternatives to biofuels like hydrogen and electricity – while they might help to reduce tailpipe pollution – still would require burning of fossil fuels to manufacture.” European biofuel producers are worried about the threat of American imports. U.S. farmers receive significant subsidies and incentives that make European exportation particularly appealing. A formal EU investigation is underway, considering punitive tariffs against American E85– unless the U.S. government removes biofuel incentives. Good luck with that.