European Biofuels Technology Platform

European Biofuels Technology Platform

The European Biofuels Technology Platform (EBFTP) is an advisory body, comprised largely of representatives from the automotive, biotech and oil industries which has been instrumental in shaping and implementing EU agrofuel policy. The EBFTP mission is "to contribute to the development of cost-competitive world-class biofuels technologies, to the creation of a healthy biofuels industry and to accelerate the deployment of biofuels in the European Union through a process of guidance, prioritisation and promotion of research, development and demonstration."

History

The Biofuels Research Advisory Council (BIOFRAC) was created by DG Research in early 2005. A "group of high level experts representing widely different sectors of the biofuel chain" was invited "to develop a foresight report - a vision for biofuels up to 2030 and beyond, to ensure a breakthrough of biofuels and increase their deployment in the EU." In addition to this 'foresight report', the Commission also invited BIOFRAC to prepare the ground for the so-called 'Strategic Research Agenda', and to provide considerable input for the Seventh Framework Research Programme (FP7), the EU's main instrument for funding research in Europe from 2007 to 2013. Membership of BIOFRAC (now dissolved) was unbalanced, dominated by specific corporate interests. The automotive industry was represented with four members, oil; three, biofuel; three, and biotech with lobby group EuropaBio. One member from the food industry, one from a forestry company and one from an energy company, one farmer representative and eight from research centres or universities (some with very close links to the oil and biotech industry) completed participation. According to the Commission, members were appointed as individuals, on the basis of their knowledge and expertise, and not as representatives of their organisations. However, it is not unreasonable to assume their role and their recommendations would be reflective of the corporations or organisations for which they work. Indeed BIOFRAC's corporate-bias was clearly reflected in its final report, issued in June 2006, "Biofuels in the European Union. A vision for 2030 and beyond".[5] "VISION. By 2030, the European Union covers as much as one quarter of its road transport fuel needs by clean and CO2-efficient biofuels. A substantial part is provided by a competitive European industry. This significantly decreases the EU fossil fuel import dependence. Biofuels are produced using sustainable and innovative technologies; these create opportunities for biomass providers, biofuel producers and the automotive industry."[6] On 7 June 2006, with its mission accomplished, BIOFRAC was dissolved. On the same day, in line with the recommendations in the Biofuels Vision Report, a steering committee of the European Biofuels Technology Platform (EBFTP) was appointed and the new Platform was officially launched a day later, in Paris.

According to the EBFTP, its main objective is to implement the major proposals outlined in the BIOFRAC's Vision report.[9] The Commission pays for the Secretariat, which includes funding the website, meeting general administrative costs and setting up a Stakeholder Plenary Meeting.
The Platform is composed of five working groups and a steering committee. A few months before the launch of the EBFTP, the Commission invited "expressions of interest for membership of the steering committee and working groups" of the EBFTP, announcing it to be "open to the active participation of all stakeholders".[10] The EBFTP was promoted as a means to "bring together research institutions, companies, NGOs, financial entities and regulatory authorities at European Level". However, the actual composition of the Platform is now heavily dominated by industry. The European Environment Bureau's (EEB) had earlier on complained about BIOFRAC's industry bias and had called on the Commission "to address this imbalance in the composition of the Steering Group for the Biofuels Technology Platform", a call that went ignored.[11]

Controversies

The EU Spring Council, meeting 8 - 9 March 2007, proposed, as part of a broader energy package, mandatory targets for 10% use of agrofuels in all road transport fuel by 2020. This almost doubles the current (non-binding) target of 5.75% by 2010. This proposal was presented as a major step to combat climate change.

However, a closer look at agrofuels, reveals a devastating picture; a so-called solution accompanied by a raft of new problems.[2] Agrofuels:

   * Compete with food for agricultural resources, and their expansion has already resulted in rising food prices which directly threatens the food security of the world's poorest communities;
   * Increase the pressure on land which causes, amongst other things, an increased deforestation rate;
   * Are farmed in huge mono-crop plantations, involving intensive use of pesticides and fertilisers, and in many cases with the risk of genetically modified contamination. This threatens biodiversity along with other environmental hazards;
   * threaten land rights as they are accompanied by plans for monoculture expansion, which tends to be controlled by big agribusiness and wealthy land owners. This threatens the human rights of small farmers and indigenous peoples across the Global South as they are evicted from their lands or face ill-health, poor working conditions and land conflicts.

Furthermore, to add insult to injury, there is growing evidence that agrofuels are indeed aggravating, not mitigating, climate change.

Was the Commission aware of this before backing agrofuels with a host of policy measures? According to an official Commission impact assessment, completed in 2006, they were.[3] This document mentions that, "increased use of biofuels in the EU will be accompanied by an increased external demand for biofuels and their feedstocks, which is likely to have various effects on developing countries... In addition, there are substantial CO2 losses if grassland is ploughed up or forest cleared. These losses can be expected to outweigh CO2 gains from biofuels for many years." It clearly states that "there will be increasing pressures on eco-sensitive areas, notably rainforests, where several millions of hectares could be transformed into plantations." Among the social effects the paper acknowledges the competition with food, the higher food prices which would hit the poor in developing countries and the pressure on vulnerable communities (to move away or drastically adapt their lifestyles).

The Commission's agrofuel policy has not been driven by the fight against climate change, it has sought to secure energy supply and serve the needs of large farmers and agribusiness, alongside the automotive, oil and biotech sectors, all with a direct interest in maintaining the existing status quo. The Commission has enabled these corporate interests to enter into the policy dialogue and design policy outcomes, by setting up advisory groups with a clear industry bias, such as the European Biofuels Technology Platform.

People

Despite rhetoric about open participation, the membership of the Platform was a stitch up from the start. To begin with, steering committee members were selected by BIOFRAC's Chair (Anders Roj from Volvo) and Vice chairs (Olivier Appert from the Institut Francais du Petrole and Abengoa Bioenergy's CEO Javier Salgado), in consultation with the Commission. Perhaps not surprisingly, the resulting EBFTP steering committee is dominated by industry.[12] As with BIOFRAC the oil and automotive industries have the highest representation in the steering committee, with three members each. They are followed by biotech with two, forestry with one, energy with one and food with one. Then joined by one farmer representative and four from research/university centres. The Steering Committee is chaired by Luis Cabra of Spanish oil company Repsol YPF, with Roj and Appert as vice-chairs. There is not a single citizens' organisation representative on the Steering Committee. Furthermore, at the next tier down, the five working groups are vastly dominated by industry and research centres representatives.[13] Despite promises of multiple stakeholders representation, it is now clear this lack of broad representation is a deliberate choice. According to the Platform newsletter "an adequate balance of industry vs. research/public centers was established in order to preserve the Platform as an industry-led body (italics added)".[14] Over 300 people applied to be part of the working groups. Yet with a maximum of 25 members per group, more than half were excluded. The final outcome is that there are only 2 NGO representatives out of some 125 working group members.[15] The Secretariat has refused to release the initial list of 300 candidates, and Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) is still waiting for a promised breakdown by backgrounds.

Notes

Adapted from Briefing paper, Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO), June 2007 [[1]]