There is contradictory news on the carbon footprint of biofuels.
Information revealed following a freedom of information request by Reuters from the European Commission found that carbon emissions from biofuels are far higher than that from conventional diesel and petrol.
The carbon emissions from biofuels produced from rapeseed sector has an indirect carbon footprint of 150.3kg of CO2/gigajoule, compared to conventional diesel or petrol’s 85kg, Reuters found.
However, the French energy agency, ADEME, has published a report on the life-cycle impacts of first generation biofuels which concludes that environmental benefits should be obtainable.
The report shows that, when ignoring possible land-use change impacts, emission and energy savings could be 90 and 80% respectively for biofuels from waste oils and animal fat, compared to fossil fuels.
The Commission is currently analysing data to decide how much biofuels should benefit from subsidies and tax breaks based on their carbon footprint.