Tuesday, September 13, 2005

EU pushes biofuel to fight climate change, high oil

Reuters AlertNet - EU pushes biofuel to fight climate change, high oil

11 Sep 2005 16:35:22 GMT

LONDON, Sept 11 (Reuters) - The European Union must increase the amount of biomass, a green fuel, in its energy mix as concerns about high oil prices and climate change mount, the EU executive said on Sunday.

EU Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel said the European Commission would develop a "biomass action plan" by the end of 2005, which would propose ways to increase the use of the alternative energy source. New "ambitious" biofuel policy proposals could follow next year, she said.

"We can reduce our dependency on energy imports and contribute to the Kyoto objectives while offering farmers new market opportunities," Fischer Boel told a news briefing after a meeting of EU agriculture and environment ministers.

The Kyoto Protocol, which EU states have signed, is an international environmental agreement that obliges countries to limit their emissions of gases scientists say get caught in the atmosphere and heat the earth.

Farming contributes 10 percent of the EU's greenhouse gas emissions, Fischer Boel said.

She said official EU figures showed the use of biomass in the 25-nation bloc had risen to 68.8 million tonnes of oil equivalent in 2003 from 46.8 million tonnes in 1993.

Burning wood for cooking is the oldest example of using biomass, a term for any sort of vegetation, such as grass, trees, leaves or even municipal waste that can be burned on its own or co-fired in power plants to generate electricity.

Biomass can also be used to produce liquid fuels, for example, ethanol from sugar cane, and gaseous fuels, such as methane from rubbish dumps.

Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said skyrocketing oil prices were probably enough to spur demand for the fuel.

"With the price of oil going up and up, perhaps tax and other incentives will not be needed," Dimas told a news briefing.

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