The measures approved include, that biofuels produced from food and energy crops must not exceed 5.5 per cent of total energy consumption for transport purposes by 2020; and that advanced biofuels must account for ‘no less than two per cent of consumption’ by the same year.

These measures aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions due to changes in indirect land use, i.e. the increasing use of farmland to produce biofuel crops to the detriment of the area available for food crops (which will lead to the need to free up more land in order to grow more food)and other land uses, such as forests.  If  the fact that deforestation itself increases greenhouse gas emissions is taken into account, it is possible to understand that all this process cancels part of the beneficial effects of using traditional biofuels over traditional fossil fuels.

In this sense, the ENVI clarified that the switchover to a new generation of agri-fuels should be achieved sparing the forests, not overexploiting them.

The legislative report approved by the ENVI will be put to a plenary vote in Strasbourg in September 2013.