EU, recognising dangers, will tighten rules on biofuels

The European Union is to set tougher environmental criteria for biofuels after acknowledging that the drive for transport fuels produced from crops has done unforeseen damage, Reuters reported on Monday.
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Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said that the EU had initially underestimated the danger of its binding-targets policy to rainforests
and the risk of forcing up food prices.

EU leaders set a mandatory target last March that at least 10% of transport fuel should come from biofuels by 2020.

EU energy spokesman Ferran Tarradellas Espuny said the European Commission would stick to the 10% biofuels target, but "certainly we will do that in a way that’s going to cause no damage, or at least less damage, than if we used fossil fuels to achieve the same target". Criteria are to be announced next week.

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