Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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290. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources his views on the movement at European Commission level to phase out conventional crop based biofuels; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17308/17]

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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The 2009 Renewable Energy Directive (as amended by the 2015 ILUC Directive),  limits to 7% the amount of energy from crop based biofuels, whose use could lead to Indirect Land-Use Change (ILUC), that Member States can count towards their 2020 renewable energy targets in transport. In November 2016, the European Commission published a proposal for a new Renewables Directive that envisages an overall European Union renewable energy target of at least 27% in 2030.  It is proposed in the draft Directive that the amount of energy from crop based biofuels which can be counted towards renewable transport targets in the period after 2020 will be progressively reduced to 3.8% in 2030.

Biofuel production and its use, unless properly regulated, may not deliver required greenhouse gas savings and could impact negatively on food production and land use.  It is important, therefore, that measures are in place to mitigate against environmental risks, such as Indirect Land-Use Change, of certain categories of biofuels.  It is also important that the development of advanced biofuels, which pose little risk of ILUC, are encouraged and measures to incentivise the production of these biofuels are contained in the ILUC Directive and the proposed new Renewables Directive.

I anticipate the ILUC Directive will be transposed into Irish legislation by my Department by the deadline of 10 September 2017.