Transport accounted for around 20% of the EU’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in 2007. Although progress has been made in reducing GHG emissions in many sectors over the past 15 years, Europe’s transport emissions continue to rise.

The EU has set an ambitious binding target for 20% of total energy supply to come from renewables by 2020, and achieving this target will require at least 10% of transport energy to come from renewable sources such as biofuels.

Bioethanol and biodiesel

Bioethanol is an alcohol produced from organic biomass such as sugar, wheat or maize, and represents over 80% of global biofuel production. Bioethanol is a biodegradable, non-toxic and proven alternative to fossil fuel that can be blended for use in any petrol-engine car today without modification. In fact, ethanol has already been used in cars for over 80 years – Henry Ford regarded it as ‘the fuel of the future’ and designed his early engines to run on a bioethanol/petrol mix. Greenhouse gas emissions can be reduced through the use of bioethanol, as the crops used to produce bioethanol absorb CO2 as they grow. When produced from sustainable crops in Europe, it also provides the EU’s rural economy with a welcome boost.

Biodiesel is another type of biofuel whose production and use has grown rapidly in Europe, and is typically mixed with conventional diesel. Most biodiesel is produced from vegetable oils in plants such as soy, palm and rape.

About animal feeds

• Bioethanol can be produced by refining wheat, and oilseed rape can be used to produce biodiesel