Mr. Eamonn Confrey:

The proposal on the table will certainly enhance the existing sustainability criteria but rather than just being focused on biofuels it will be extended to biomass and biogas for heat and power. Another issue to note is that new biomass-fuelled electricity plants above 20 MW will be required to use combined heat and power technology. The principle is that biofuels, bioliquids and biomass fuels may only count towards the target if they fulfil certain sustainability criteria and the greenhouse gas emissions savings criteria. This means that, slowly but surely, the drive at EU level is to ensure sustainability criteria are tightened. It picks up the 2020 package in terms of meeting our renewable transport target. Most of our emphasis has been around biofuels but the sustainability element was probably not properly accounted for back then. It is a food versus security debate and concerns the use of advanced biofuels, as opposed to those fuels that are crop-based. I hope that has answered the Senator's question.