New proposals which aim to limit the percentage of biofuels that can be used in transport fuels continue to divide opinion among European policymakers and stakeholders.
The fuel quality directive and renewable energy directive proposal, adopted by parliament’s environment committee, include new rules that take into consideration the impacts of producing biofuel crops.
The Biobased Industries Consortium (BIC), a cross sector group of 48 large and small companies, has joined forces with the European Commission to set up an unprecedented Public Private Partnership worth 3.8 billion euros to accelerate the deployment of biobased products in Europe by 2020.
The Biobased Industries PPP is part of the European Commission’s Innovation and Investment Package that was released today in Brussels. The package is intended to stimulate the European economy, create jobs and tackle major societal challenges through research, innovation and deployment. Continue reading
The European Commission has selected and appointed the 30 members of the Bioeconomy Panel, a new platform for informed discussions on the Bioeconomy.
These experts represent a wide variety of interests – scientific community and researchers, primary producers, industry, policy-makers, and civil society – and they are nominated for an initial mandate of 2 years.
Their role is to closely assist the Commission in the implementation of the Bioeconomy Strategy in Europe.
“Europe and the rest of the world must cope with an expected 70 per cent increase in food demand, and a 100 per cent increase in energy demand, by 2050. Under these circumstances, we must prepare ourselves for a ‘post-petroleum’ society, one in which we use our natural resources more sustainably”. In this exclusive interview European Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science, Màire Geoghegan-Quinn, talks about bioeconomy and European policies to support it. And tells us that “The Italian government is aware of the benefits of a coordinated bioeconomy strategy and expressed interest in possibly hosting the annual Bioeconomy Stakeholders Conference in Italy in 2014”.
Interview by Mario Bonaccorso
