“Climate action, energy security, innovation and bioeconomy are all linked to the opportunities of sustainable biofuels”
(UPM, Helsinki, 5 December 2014 at 10:00) - Leaders of Sustainable Biofuels (LSB), an industry coalition to promote advanced biofuels, met on December 4th at the European Parliament with Members of the European Parliament, Commission representatives, and stakeholders in Brussels. LSB, chaired by UPM’s Marko Janhunen, is advocating for a strong EU-wide sub-target for advanced biofuels in the context of ILUC directive.
Director Marie Donnelly from the European Commission DG Energy emphasized the role of biofuels: "The 40% target of greenhouse gas reduction cannot be achieved without a strong contribution from the transport sector – biofuels will be an essential part of this challenge”.
The key note speaker, Member of the European Parliament Nils Torvalds, rapporteur of the ILUC dossier at the European Parliament commented on the need to holistic and long-term approach: “We need to build a bridge from ILUC debate towards 2030 policy of reducing transport emissions. The industry needs long term security”.
“The industry feels this type of dialogue is essential. We feel there is too little understanding on the opportunities of advanced biofuels. Climate action, energy security and innovation are key topics in the EU today. We want to contribute to the debate by showing that advanced biofuels can play an integral part of Europe’s energy mix and our joint efforts to reduce transport emissions”, stated Marko Janhunen, chair of LSB and Vice President at UPM Biorefining.
Several hundreds of millions has been spent in Europe on research to develop technologies for advanced biofuels. As the time is ripe for commercialization of new technologies, investments are not moving forward due to lack of regulatory certainty. “As the rest of the world is moving forward with investments, the US and China in particular, we are shooting ourselves in the foot by not creating the right conditions for investments to materialize”, Janhunen continues.
“The European Parliament has now a great opportunity to move things forward. By promoting the sub-target for advanced biofuels and making it more binding, and also by ensuring that policy measures go beyond 2020, we trust that investor confidence can be gained”, Janhunen concludes.
LSB continues to engage with stakeholders and Members of the European Parliament in particular to promote the opportunities of advanced biofuels.
For more information, please contact:
Marko Janhunen, Chair, LSB and Vice President, Stakeholder Relations, UPM Biorefining, tel. +358 50 590 0047
UPM
Through the renewing of the bio and forest industries, UPM is building a sustainable future across six business areas: UPM Biorefining, UPM Energy, UPM Raflatac, UPM Paper Asia, UPM Paper Europe and North America and UPM Plywood. Our products are made of renewable raw materials and are recyclable. We serve customers worldwide. The group employs around 21,000 people and its annual sales are approximately EUR 10 billion. UPM shares are listed on NASDAQ OMX Helsinki. UPM – The Biofore Company – www.upm.com
UPM Biofuels
UPM plans to become a major player in high quality, advanced biofuels for transport. Biofuels are an essential part of the Biofore strategy. The innovative wood-based biofuels developed by the company and their production technologies are part of a sustainable future. UPM’s biofuels are frontrunners in quality, usability and sustainability. They will significantly decrease greenhouse gas emissions compared to fossils fuels. www.upmbiofuels.com
The Leaders of Sustainable Biofuels
The LSB is a group composed by the Chief Executive Officers of Leading European biofuel producers and European airlines. The initiative aims at supporting the development of second generation biofuels in Europe. The leaders of UPM, British Airways, Biochemtex, BTG, Chemrec, Clariant, Dong Energy and St1 Biofuels Oy are joining forces to ensure the market uptake of advanced sustainable biofuels by all transport sectors.
email: info@sustainablebiofuelsleaders.com
Website: http://www.sustainablebiofuelsleaders.com