EU panel votes to lower controversial biofuel goal

By Pete Harrison

STRASBOURG (Reuters) - European Union lawmakers took a first step towards lowering EU biofuels targets when a European Parliament panel backed a proposal to draw just 4 percent of road transport fuels from renewable sources by 2015.

The EU plans to get 10 percent of road transport fuel from renewable sources such as biofuels by 2020, but the target has been attacked by environmentalists, who say it contributes to rising food prices and deforestation.

Biofuels are mainly produced from food crops such as wheat, maize, sugar cane and vegetable oils and are seen as a way to cut greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change.

Officials place great hope in second-generation biofuels, not yet in commercial production, that would use biomass from forest and crop waste, and algae, without competing with food production.

Luxembourg Green MEP Claude Turmes proposed amending the target to 4 percent in 2015, with a major review before proceeding to a target of 8 to 10 percent by 2020.

Parliament's environment committee voted 36-0 in favor of the amendment late on Monday, with 8 abstentions.

Big biofuels producers like Brazil are closely watching the commercialization of biofuels in the EU, hoping to gain a massive new market.

"The EU should be aiming to set the standard for biofuels," Turmes told Reuters on Tuesday.