Current biofuels not better for climate

Research by CE Delft concludes that more land is needed to produce biofuels, which will lead to deforestation.

Emission reduction versus deforestation
The European governments aim at an annual emission reduction of 70 Mt by the support for biofuels in 2020. The production of these biofuels needs arable land. This land use can (indirectly) lead to deforestation.

Conclustion: emission current biofuels is equal to fossil energy
CE Delft evaluated 7 agro-economic models which estimate this indirect land use change effect. Our conclusion is that all the models predict a substantial ILUC effect. On average the GHG effect caused by ILUC is the same as the direct emission reduction. This means that concerning GHG emission of the current biofuels are equal to fossil energy.

Policy recommendations
ILUC can be prevented by the use of waste, degraded land or by extra intensification of agriculture. To introduce these better biofuels the European governments can introduce an ILUC factor in the GHG calculation rules for biofuels. In the report concrete options for these ILUC factors are presented.

CE Delft report: 'Biofuels: indirect land use change and climate impact'

See also:
Airneth file: The challenges of high-priced oil for aviation
Airneth file: Climate Change and Aviation