EU Uncertainty Threatens Biofuel Output Target, Agra CEAS Says

Regulatory uncertainty in the European Union means production of biofuels in the bloc may miss targets as investors are reluctant to take up new projects, Agra CEAS Consulting Ltd. said in a report today.

There’s been a “dramatic slowdown” in biofuel project investment in the EU, according to the e-mailed report from Agra CEAS, a joint venture between Imperial College London and Informa Plc. Ten percent of fuel used for transportation should come from renewable sources by 2020, according to an EU mandate set in 2009. The European Commission last year proposed to cap the use of first-generation biofuels made from food crops including grain and sugar at 5 percent, with the rest of the mandate fulfilled by so-called advanced biofuels made from inedible products including corn stalks and other crop waste.