EU Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger on Thursday called for higher goals for biofuels use, while vowing an effective certification system to avoid hurting the environment with the fuel crops.
"I think the 10 percent objective should be raised," he told reporters in Brussels Thursday, referring to one of the goals included in the European Union's climate agreement aimed at cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent over this decade.
"We will look at the market, the environmental advantages and the effects on nature. We aren't ruling out changes. Biofuels represent a great opportunity, though with risks attached," the EU official said.
To minimise those risks, the EU's executive arm encouraged industry, governments and NGOs to set up "certification schemes" for all types of biofuels.
"This will help implement the EU's requirements that biofuels must deliver substantial reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and should not come from forests, wetlands and nature protection areas," the commission said in a statement.
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