4.1 The Global Setting of Biofuel Expansion
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(Reuters 2010). Although such Brazilian entrepreneurship overseas may have lost
steam since its heyday during the Lula presidency, in the long term such promotion of rural development through biofuels also serves Brazil’s strategic interests. It
understands that global biofuel markets will hardly become established without a
larger number of exporting countries (EPE 2010, p. 225; Bastos Lima 2012).
4.1.3 European Union (EU)
The EU has the world’s third-largest biofuel output, mostly produced in Germany
(4.5 billion liters), France (3.1 billion liters), Spain (2.5 billion liters), Italy (1.4
billion liters), Poland (1.2 billion liters), and the Netherlands (1 billion liters) (REN21
2019). Unlike the US and Brazil, where ethanol dominates, EU biofuel production
consists primarily of biodiesel, using rapeseed as its primary feedstock. Although
waste cooking oil has been increasingly utilized, the biodiesel sector has consumed
as much as 45% of the EU vegetable oil supply (OECD/FAO 2019), meeting 5.7%
of the transport sector energy demand in 2019 (Flach et al. 2019).
EU biofuel production and consumption have been guided mainly by its Renewable Energy Directives (RED I and RED II). In 2009, RED I established that every
member country must reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20%, compared to 1990
levels, to increase the overall EU rate of renewable energy use to 20% by 2020 (European Parliament 2009). A specific transport sector target specified that renewables
should account for at least 10% of its energy consumption in every member-state
by 2020. However, substantive controversy arose when civil society organizations
observed that such targets would be met mostly by importing crop-based biofuels
from overseas, fueling additional land-use change and deforestation in tropical countries. Between 2007 and 2012, on average, 20% of the liquid biofuels consumed
in the EU were imported from overseas (Flach et al. 2013). Despite increases in
domestic biofuel production and some fluctuation over the years, a significant share
of imports has been a constant (see Fig. 4.2) and stood at 18% in 2019 (Flach et al.
2019). Although most imports have come from South America or Southeast Asia,
Europe has also pursued development cooperation with Africa—through the AfricaEU Energy Partnership—by promoting feedstock cultivation and export-oriented
biofuel production in this continent (Charles et al. 2009).
To address environmental concerns linked to its import reliance, the EU adopted
several sustainability criteria that biofuel production must meet to count towards the
binding target. These criteria require:
i. Minimum reductions in greenhouse gas emissions compared to the fossil fuel
being replaced (based on the EU’s accounting for different biofuels);
ii. Restrictions on land-use changes for feedstock cultivation in order to avoid
deforestation or peatland degradation; and
71
(Reuters 2010). Although such Brazilian entrepreneurship overseas may have lost
steam since its heyday during the Lula presidency, in the long term such promotion of rural development through biofuels also serves Brazil’s strategic interests. It
understands that global biofuel markets will hardly become established without a
larger number of exporting countries (EPE 2010, p. 225; Bastos Lima 2012).
4.1.3 European Union (EU)
The EU has the world’s third-largest biofuel output, mostly produced in Germany
(4.5 billion liters), France (3.1 billion liters), Spain (2.5 billion liters), Italy (1.4
billion liters), Poland (1.2 billion liters), and the Netherlands (1 billion liters) (REN21
2019). Unlike the US and Brazil, where ethanol dominates, EU biofuel production
consists primarily of biodiesel, using rapeseed as its primary feedstock. Although
waste cooking oil has been increasingly utilized, the biodiesel sector has consumed
as much as 45% of the EU vegetable oil supply (OECD/FAO 2019), meeting 5.7%
of the transport sector energy demand in 2019 (Flach et al. 2019).
EU biofuel production and consumption have been guided mainly by its Renewable Energy Directives (RED I and RED II). In 2009, RED I established that every
member country must reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20%, compared to 1990
levels, to increase the overall EU rate of renewable energy use to 20% by 2020 (European Parliament 2009). A specific transport sector target specified that renewables
should account for at least 10% of its energy consumption in every member-state
by 2020. However, substantive controversy arose when civil society organizations
observed that such targets would be met mostly by importing crop-based biofuels
from overseas, fueling additional land-use change and deforestation in tropical countries. Between 2007 and 2012, on average, 20% of the liquid biofuels consumed
in the EU were imported from overseas (Flach et al. 2013). Despite increases in
domestic biofuel production and some fluctuation over the years, a significant share
of imports has been a constant (see Fig. 4.2) and stood at 18% in 2019 (Flach et al.
2019). Although most imports have come from South America or Southeast Asia,
Europe has also pursued development cooperation with Africa—through the AfricaEU Energy Partnership—by promoting feedstock cultivation and export-oriented
biofuel production in this continent (Charles et al. 2009).
To address environmental concerns linked to its import reliance, the EU adopted
several sustainability criteria that biofuel production must meet to count towards the
binding target. These criteria require:
i. Minimum reductions in greenhouse gas emissions compared to the fossil fuel
being replaced (based on the EU’s accounting for different biofuels);
ii. Restrictions on land-use changes for feedstock cultivation in order to avoid
deforestation or peatland degradation; and