EU biofuels growth seen slowed by financial crisis

OXFORD, England, Jan 6 (Reuters) – The sharp drop in crude oil prices and the global financial crisis is set to disrupt the development of biofuels in the European Union, a top European Commission official said on Tuesday.

“The path will be a bit chaotic. I don’t see a taking off in biofuels in 2009, 2010 but probably later because we know that oil prices will (eventually) increase again,” Jean Luc Demarty, the European Commission’s Director-General, Agricultural and Rural Development Department, told reporters.

Demarty said, however, he was confident of the long-term future of biofuels with the EU setting a goal for 10 percent of motor fuel to come from renewable sources by 2020.

Biofuels include biodiesel, derived mainly from vegetable oils and animal fats, and bioethanol which can be made from grains and sugar cane.

Guardian