Neste calls for easier EU certification of intermediate crop biofuel feedstocks

Neste has called on the European Commission to relax restrictions on biofuel raw materials that it says can be produced without endangering food supplies or forests. Hydrocarbon Processing Biofuels reported that the Finnish biofuel producer and oil refiner made the appeal as war-driven increases in fossil fuel prices renewed attention on biofuels as a potential means of strengthening energy security and lowering energy costs.

The company's case centres on second-generation, or advanced, biofuels derived from intermediate and cover crops. These include canola cultivated between harvests or crops grown on degraded land. Neste argues that concerns about competition with food production and damage to forests should not apply to these materials, distinguishing them from the food and feed crops used for much of current biofuel production.

Speaking at the Argus Biofuels Europe conference in London, Samuel Maubanc, Neste's EMEA head of Public and Regulatory Affairs, put Europe's maximum potential availability of intermediate crops at up to 27 million tonnes. According to Hydrocarbon Processing Biofuels, he said certification requirements currently rule out a substantial part of that potential supply. The European Commission was not immediately available to respond.

The request comes against a longstanding debate over the benefits and costs of biofuels, which are generally blended with fossil fuels. While their supporters point to emissions reductions and energy security, concerns over deforestation and food prices have shaped European restrictions on crop-based feedstocks. The source reported that these concerns underpin Commission limits on biofuel feedstocks grown in Europe.

Demand is also expected to expand as major producing countries raise blending mandates. A recent Chatham House study cited by the outlet projected that global biofuel output would grow by nearly 70% between 2025 and 2030. The report said crude prices had climbed about 50% since the Iran war began in late February, compared with increases of roughly 40% for sugar and 3% for corn.