EU Biofuels Sustainability Criteria Must be Science-Based

Feb 26, 2009

LONDON - UK -- Just a few weeks before the Asian Biofuels Roundtable (23-25 March) in Kuala Lumpur, the Hon. Datuk Peter Chin Fah Kui MINISTER OF PLANTATION INDUSTRIES AND COMMODITIES/ MALAYSIA spoke with exclusivity to the World Refining Association.

WRA: The World Refining Association and the participants of the Asian Biofuels Roundtable are delighted with the opportunity to listen directly from you during the event, Could you tell us the main points you will discuss during your opening keynote address? What are your expectative about the Roundtable?

Hon. Datuk Peter Chin Fah Kui MINISTER OF PLANTATION INDUSTRIES AND COMMODITIES:

I am very delighted to be invited to give the Keynote Address in the Asian Biofuels Roundtable 2009. The biofuels scenario is constantly changing. I would probably cover the issues and challenges facing biofuel producers, particularly in Malaysia and the implementation of the B5 programme in Malaysia. These would include: Impediments to market access to major markets such as EU and USA due to unfair legislations and other actions;B5 implementation in Malaysia, the issues and challenges; the need to move into next generation biofuels based on non-food biomass and the need for biofuel producers to act together to face these challenges including issues on sustainability.

I sincerely hope the Roundtable will come up with ideas and actions that can address these issues.

WRA: How do you see the key challenges and issues affecting the Asian Biofuels Industry?

Minister: In spite of the benefits that biofuels bring in terms of energy security, reducing greenhouse gases (GHG) and contributing towards socio-economic development of rural communities, there are several challenges that confronts us such as:

Feedstock: There are concerns that the cost of producing biofuels is more costly than the price of fossil fuels. As a major cost of biofuel is the cost of feedstock, rising prices of vegetable oils could put pressure on the cost of producing biofuels. In a country which subsidises its fuel in the retail market, the rise in the cost of biofuels is an additional cost burden for the government.

Infrastructure Investment: there are challenges in integrating biofuels into the established currents fuel market related to storage, blending and distribution of biofuels. It is clear that the development of a domestic biofuel market requires up front investment in the biofuel infrastructure which is critical to support large scale biofuels operations.

Sustainability: the issue on sustainability has taken into a new dimension when the EU introduced a renewable energy directive which introduces minimum GHG saving thresholds and it is compulsory for biofuel produced by the producing countries to be sustainable and not damaging the ecosystems such as land with high biodiversity value and high carbon stock ( e.g. peatland). We urge the EU to ensure that its sustainability scheme does not discriminate against third country producers and that the criteria used are science based, verifiable and WTO- compatible.

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