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Climate change
Dr Nigel Mortimer
Managing Director
North Energy Associates, Sheffield
Principle 3: Climate change
Biofuels should contribute to a net
reduction of total greenhouse gas
(GHG) emissions and not exacerbate
global climate change
The current situation
• Target-based policies encourage largescale production
• Can promote production in countries
without climate change mitigation policies
• Corn-based bioethanol production in the
USA
European regulation
• Biofuels supplied within the EU have
requirements for GHG emission savings
• Stronger controls needed for EU imports
Measuring greenhouse gas
emissions
• Percentage difference between total GHG
emissions of a biofuel and total GHG
emissions of a conventional fuel
• Life cycle assessment of biofuels accounts
GHG emissions associated with:
– Cultivation/provision
– Processing/conversion
– Transport
– Land use change (direct and indirect)?
Land use change
Direct land use change (dLUC)
• EC approach - no land with high carbon
stocks should be used for the cultivation of
biofuels
Indirect land use change (iLUC)
• RED proposes EC should develop a
methodology to minimise GHG emissions
associated with iLUC
• Regulation or policy analysis?
Recommendations
• Single international standard for assessing
GHG emissions across the life cycle of
biofuels should be used by EC and EU
Member States
• Policies on land use change should be set
within a global, co-ordinated response to
climate change, with strong international
and local measures to prevent destruction
of high carbon stocks
New technologies
• Potential for reducing GHG emissions
• Blunt targets for current biofuels mean few
incentives for developing new technologies
Recommendation
• Policy makers should incentivise research
and development of new biofuels
technologies that:
– reduce greenhouse gas emissions
– avoid environmental harms
– avoid social harms
– need less land and other resources