EU Parliament Rejects Regulation of Soy as a High-ILUC Risk

FROM CLEAN FUELS ALLIANCE AMERICA:

On Wednesday July 8, the European Parliament rejected a European Commission regulation that sought to designate soy and other crop-based biofuels as high Indirect Land Use Change (ILUC) risk. The proposed regulation would have phased out use of these biofuels in the EU Renewable Energy Directive (RED).

The EU Parliament this week directed the Commission to reconsider the regulation and particularly to review the methodology that classified soy as high ILUC-risk.

Since the start of the year, Clean Fuels and member companies have worked with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to provide information and data to European leaders on U.S. soy’s status.

Following the European Commission’s initial analysis in January finding a high ILUC risk for soy, Clean Fuels joined the National Oilseed Processors Association (NOPA) in formal comments that recommended the EU adopt a regional approach to assessing ILUC risk. The comments emphasized that U.S. soy acreage has been relatively consistent over the past decade, indicating a low ILUC risk.

In June, Clean Fuels and other stakeholders provided input to support the U.S. government proposal of an alternative methodology for analyzing ILUC risk at a regional level. The proposed methodology would exclude U.S. soy from the high-ILUC risk designation and RED phaseout.

This week’s European Parliament vote supports further consideration of the U.S. proposal and data. Clean Fuels will continue to contribute to the U.S. government’s efforts to maintain soy-based fuels’ market access in the EU. Clean Fuels will continue to educate stakeholders that U.S. soy should be a preferred feedstock for clean fuel production.