Journal of Security and Sustainability Issues

Transport biofuels are currently the fastest growing bioenergy sectors even they represent around 3–4% of total road transport fuel and only 6% of total bioenergy consumption today. Low oil prices and poor margins continue to challenge biofuel producers in Europe. Under current market conditions it is unlikely that the 7% cap will be reached in the EU by 2020. Since the past ten years, production of biodiesel from waste and animal fats has taken off, while the commercialization of cellulosic ethanol is lagging behind compared to former targets. Co-products are supposed to be credited with the area of cropland required to produce the amount of feed they substitute. If co-products are taken into account, the net use of land and feedstocks declines. Most existing biofuel regulations significantly undervalue the contribution of co-products when assessing the net land use and GHG impacts of biofuel production. Long-term transport shares are the most challenging to project because the range of possible vehicle technologies and fuel types in the future is very broad and future oil prices are uncertain. It is concluded that the rise in the use of biofuels has slowed down and sustainability criteria have been established regarding the use of land and the mitigation of environmental impacts caused by biofuel production.