by Géraldine Kutas | May 8, 2014 | Sem categoria
Having looked at the recently published manifestos of the European political groups, I realized surprisingly that the main groups, EPP and PES, do not even mention transport issues in their priorities for the next five years. Isn’t it odd? Transport is still one of...
by Géraldine Kutas | Apr 17, 2014 | Sem categoria
It’s good to see that a highly regarded institution, like the United Nations, has just released a new report that has the courage to simply follow the empirical evidence about the benefits of responsibly produced biofuels. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate...
by Leticia Phillips | Apr 8, 2014 | Sem categoria
In advance of the Senate Agriculture Committee hearing – entitled Advanced Biofuels: Creating Jobs and Lower Prices at the Pump – the Brazilian Sugarcane Industry Association (UNICA) released the following statement. It should be attributed to Leticia Phillips,...
by Géraldine Kutas | Mar 19, 2014 | Sem categoria
Later this week, European heads of government will meet in Brussels to discuss, among other issues, the European Union’s 2030 Climate and Energy Package which – as I mentioned in my previous blog – effectively called for an end to the Fuel Quality Directive after 2020...
by Leticia Phillips | Mar 11, 2014 | Sem categoria
In response to proposed updates to the California Air Resources Board’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard, Leticia Phillips, North America Representative for the Brazilian Sugarcane Industry Association (known by the acronym “UNICA”), issued the following statement: ...
by Géraldine Kutas | Feb 21, 2014 | Sem categoria
The annual EU-Brazil summit will take place next week here in the European Union capital, Brussels. There will be plenty of bonhomie as these summits go. We can reasonably expect trade to be one of the most important items of the political agenda, alongside other...
by Leticia Phillips | Jan 29, 2014 | Sem categoria
Brazil’s sugarcane ethanol producers submitted formal comments to the EPA Tuesday that expressed the industry’s serious concerns about the agency’s proposed standards for the 2014 Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). UNICA’s (The Brazilian Sugarcane Industry...
by Géraldine Kutas | Jan 22, 2014 | Sem categoria
Apparently, the current European Commission’s long term strategy is now formally not to have one. On Wednesday, this Commission formally mapped out, in the first step in a long legislative process ahead, its much awaited perspective on what it thinks the European...
by Géraldine Kutas | Jan 16, 2014 | Sem categoria
With the European Commission days away from releasing its policy proposal on so-called 2030 climate and energy targets, it’s worth taking stock of how this position will negatively impact the decarbonization of the transport sector and how once again this Commission...
by Géraldine Kutas | Dec 12, 2013 | Sem categoria
EU Member States on Thursday confirmed what many European biofuel watchers had assumed for many weeks: the issue of biofuels and their potential indirect effects (so-called Indirect Land Use Change) won’t be addressed until the next European Parliament and the next...
by Géraldine Kutas | Dec 10, 2013 | Sem categoria
Ahead of the adoption of the Political Agreement on the ILUC dossier in the Energy Council on 12 December 2013, a group of NGOs put out a briefing on the biofuels policy review and on the three main issues in the debate: the cap for land-based biofuels, the weakening...
by Géraldine Kutas | Nov 29, 2013 | Sem categoria
A couple of new reports released this month in Brussels carry a similar message: Sustainable biofuels, like sugarcane-based ethanol from Brazil, will need to play a significant role if the decarbonization of European transport is going to happen longer term. There’s...
by Géraldine Kutas | Oct 3, 2013 | Sem categoria
Ecofys, a well-respected Dutch consultancy, is out with a new study that effectively eviscerates the association of biofuels with “land grabbing,” that favorite charged-phrase NGOs pedal that industry is in the business of pushing locals off their land. The meaty...
by Leticia Phillips | Jun 15, 2013 | Sem categoria
Brazilian sugarcane ethanol has become an important component of America’s advanced biofuels supply. But language tucked away in a proposed Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rulemaking could effectively end U.S. access to this clean renewable fuel. Sugarcane...
by Géraldine Kutas | Jan 26, 2012 | Sem categoria
A lot. And the Americans will be the first to tell us. After more than three decades, the U.S. government lifted its tariff on ethanol giving the American public greater access to and an increase in environmental benefits starting in 2012. This is clearly a...
