A bipartisan group of US Senators and Representatives introduced a Congressional resolution today calling for a new national renewable energy goal: 25% of the nation’s energy supply from renewable sources by 2025. The resolution builds on a broad and politically influential coalition including agriculture, industry, and environmental leaders, as well as several governors and state legislatures.

“Today we have Republicans and Democrats, rural and urban interests, and representatives from over 140 different farm, forestry and environmental organizations coming together behind a common energy goal for the nation,” said 25x’25 Steering Committee Co-Chair Bill Richards. “This introduction is truly unprecedented.”

Biofuels such as ethanol and biodiesel can significantly reduce global dependence on oil, according to a new report by the Worldwatch Institute, released in collaboration with the German Agencies for Technical Cooperation (GTZ) and Renewable Resources (FNR).

Last year, world biofuel production surpassed 670,000 barrels per day, the equivalent of about 1 percent of the global transport fuel market. Although oil still accounts for more than 96 percent of transport fuel use, biofuel production has doubled since 2001 and is poised for even stronger growth as the industry responds to higher fuel prices and supportive government policies. “Coordinated action to expand biofuel markets and advance new technologies could relieve pressure on oil prices while strengthening agricultural economies and reducing climate-altering emissions,” says Worldwatch Institute President Christopher Flavin.

Brussels, 8 June 2006. Energy Commissioner Piebalgs has commented on progress at the Energy Council: “Today’s Energy Council took important steps towards formulating an integrated European Energy Policy, as requested by Hampton Court European Council and builds on the Commission’s Green Paper for a Sustainable, Competitive and Secure European Energy Policy. In particular, the discussions on international energy policy, the internal electricity and gas market and sustainable energy policy showed clear determination to reach concrete conclusions providing for real progress by the end of this year.” 

 

It is the Energy Council which is charged with the thorny issue of energy tax harmonisation across the Union.  At present, tax treatment differs radically between member states: at one end of the spectrum is Germany with no tax on biofuels, and at the other is the UK with only a small reduction in biofuels duties compared with traditional fuels.

Thursday, June 08, 2006 Denver, Colo. — Leaders of the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the Colorado School of Mines, Colorado State University and the University of Colorado welcomed Governor Owens' signature on House Bill 1322 — legislation that provides funding to a new Colorado renewable energy research collaboration.

The European Biofuels Research Advisory Council (EBRAC) has published it's report entitled "Biofuels in the European Union: A Vision for 2030 and Beyond".  It is the result of an effort to better prioritise, co-ordinate and implement future research and development of biofuels.  The European Commission invited a group of high level experts representing widely different sectors of the biofuel chain. The mission of this group was to develop a foresight report – a vision for biofuels up to 2030 and beyond, which should address all the issues that are relevant to ensure a breakthrough of biofuels and increase their deployment in the EU.

Biofriendly Corporation announced today that UM2 Performance Testing in Singapore completed a combustion efficiency test on Biofriendly's Green Plus(R) liquid fuel combustion catalyst. This test is designed to give a "to the second" analysis of the efficiency of an engine while on the road. The results showed an increase of 5.13% horsepower and 4.84% torque when the vehicle was run with a wide-open throttle. When the Toyota was running at a steady state of 2,080 RPM, the results produced an increase of 13.25% in horsepower and 10.48% in torque. Among the factors which produced these results included maximum compression pressure occurring earlier, thus producing more power in the cylinder.

On the eve of a key meeting of European energy ministers to discuss the EU’s biofuels strategy (The Energy Council meets on 8 June and will be discussing and publishing the Council’s conclusions on the EU’s ‘Biomass Action Plan’.), three  European environmental organisations have warned that EU policies promoting biofuels may cause more environmental damage than the conventional fuels they are designed to replace if important environmental safeguards are not put in place.

At the conference, A sustainable path for biofuels in the EU, organised by EEB, BirdLife International and Transport and Environment (T&E), the three organisations called on the European Commission to introduce sustainability safeguards as part of the ongoing revision of the Biofuels Directive. Participants, including Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas, heard that without safeguards, greenhouse gas (GHG) savings will be
negligible, biodiversity will be harmed, and ultimately the public could reject biofuels if they are not seen to be a credible environmental alternative to fossil fuels.

The EU has called for public feedback on its Biofuels Directive (Directive 2003/30/EC).  Its "Biofuels Directive Review and Progress Report" consultation period will end 10 July 2006. Contributions should be sent to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , and will be published on-line.