What the European Union stands for

Decades before the EU began arguing over biofuels, Brazilians were filling up their cars with fuel from sugarcane. In 2008, even if the Commission encouraged the European countries to develop their production of biofuels, only 5,75% of the European fuels were biofuels. In 2009, with the Renewable Energy Directive (RED), the European Union takes a step further and decides to make a restrictive goal: replacing 20% of its fossil fuel consumption with renewable fuels by 2020. It is widely expected that the bulk of the target will be met by the use of biofuels.

In the European Union, most of the biofuels are biodiesel which means that they come under the oil segment and not the alcohol one (bioethanol). Biodiesel are produced from rapeseed or cereal, which could have significant impacts on food production and, consequently, on food prices. According to the Joint Research Centre of European Commission, Brazilian bioethanol, produced mainly from sugarcane is one of “the only major biofuels (…) likely to save greenhouse gas”. Consequently, Brazil is considered by the European Union as its “privileged partner” on energy, in terms of importation and co-operation joint venture and researches.

However, the European Commission started studying the effectiveness of bioethanol’s sustainability. Last year, the Commission received a letter written by a committee of scientists called Union of concerned scientists about the fact that the Commission should be more careful when using bioethanol, since it appears not to be that efficient and clean as it thought to be:(http://www.ucsusa.org/assets/documents/global_warming/International-Scientists-and-Economists-Statement-on-Biofuels-and-Land-Use.pdf)

European Union has set up some sustainability criteria for biofuels imports; Brazil has closely watched the development of these standards on biofuels.