EU: Dramatic increase in biofuel consumption

Consumption of biofuels in the EU rose dramatically during 2006, new figures reveal.

Biofuel use in the EU went up by 78 per cent from 2005 to 2006 – from 3 million to 5.38 million tonnes – according to a report published by EurObserv’ER, an industry consortium for renewable energ
The report put the boom down to “the explosion of vegetable oil consumption in Germany, which considers this product as a fully-fledged fuel”.

Germany was by far the biggest biofuel user in the EU – its consumption of 3,343,700 tonnes makes up more than half the whole EU total.

France and Austria were the second and third biggest consumers, with 682,000 tonnes and 275,200 tonnes respectively, falling considerably behind Germany.

Despite this growth, the report warns that “a significant number of countries shall not reach the threshold as set by the directive (5.75 per cent biofuel share of total consumption in 2010)”.

ETA