A new study released by Friends of the Earth, and drafted by Tim Searchinger, a Princeton University research scholar and biofuels expert, shows that the existing modelling data used by the European Union to establish the effects of "indirect land use change (ILUC)" caused by growing fuel crops is faulted.
MEPs voted on April 16 against a proposal to shore up the price of carbon in the Emissions Trading System (ETS) - the EU system for trading greenhouse gas emission allowances.
Grant funding of $255 (€155) million and concessional loans of $380 (€290) million will support over 40 of projects, which aim to advance renewable energy across the Pacific. The support will come from donors and the private sector, and was announced at the Pacific Energy Summit, which was co-hosted by the EU and the The New Zealand Governmen in Auckland on March 24-26.
A majority of EU environment ministers expressed concern over the European Commission’s proposed 5% cap on the inclusion of biofuels in member states’ renewable energy targets, despite evidence that the fuel can have a worse impact on carbon emissions than conventionally extracted oil, and that demand for fuels from grain crops like wheat or soy would drive higher food prices and encourage land-grabs in countries producing the monoculture feedstocks.
A new EU funding which amounts to €10 million, aimed at boosting access to sustainable energy in the Pacific Islands, was announced by the European Commissioner for Development, Andris Piebalgs, on Thursday, 21 March 2013.