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Biofuel fails EU sustainability test, German researchers claim
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/aug/19/biofuel-fails-eu-sustainabilty-test?intcmp=122
German scientists claim that rapeseed grown for biodiesel fails EU sustainability targets. Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images
The growing row over biofuels is ready to flare up again with German researchers claiming to have found evidence that European-produced biodiesel does not meet the sustainability targets claimed by Brussels.
Two experts at Friedrich Schiller University in Jena say eight out of their 10 tests on locally produced rapeseed biodiesel failed to show the 35% greenhouse gas savings promised. In most cases it was under 30%. The use of biofuels would be further undermined when the EU emissions target increases, as planned, to 50% in five years' time.
Gernot Pehnelt and Christoph Vietze also claim their work has been undermined by a lack of co-operation from the European Union which they believe is on the defensive over championing local energy crops.