EU MEMBER STATES TO MISS 2010 BIOFUELS TARGET

It comes as absolutely no surprise that, as in previous years, the European Union's (EU) indicative biofuels consumption target of 5.75% for 2010 will not be met. The European Commission had already indicated a couple of years ago that this year's indicative objective was unlikely to be met citing a projection of 4.2%. The reasons for this failure can be found in the member states' legislative frameworks. Although in 2010 some countries actually exceeded the 5.75% benchmark, the Community average was pulled down by the poor performers whose biofuel usage is only marginal. This results in EU biofuels having a forecast market share of just 4% by energy content in 2010.