Europe Retreats From Biofuels

"Putting the standards into effect still requires agreement from the full Parliament and European governments. But biofuels manufacturers, worried that their industry is coming under threat, now are seeking to ensure they have a future.

They are stepping up a publicity campaign, warning that alternatives to biofuels like hydrogen and electricity — while they might help to reduce tailpipe pollution — still would require burning of fossil fuels to manufacture.

'Renewable electric cars do not exist,' said Raffaello Garofalo, the secretary general of the European Biodiesel Board. 'People are going to charge the batteries of their cars at home with normal electricity that is predominately of a fossil fuel base. So there is no incentive given to renewables that way — instead you are just increasing the use of electricity full stop.'"