RED ILUC IS UNFIT TO REGULATE PALM OIL BIOFUELS

Key Highlights of the Paper:

• It is practically impossible to establish a clear, quantifiable causality between the production of biofuel-crops and the ultimate land use change somewhere else in the world;
• Studies illustrates how uncertain and complex ILUC modelling is: even when using the same modelling approach and overall assumptions, the ILUC effect is difficult to narrow down;
• As a consequence of the large variation within and between models, no robust conclusions can be made about the relative ILUC effects;
• The concept of ILUC should not be a part of such a regulation [RED]. The Delegated Act, if it attempts to base regulatory decisions on ‘high risk’ ILUC, would be outside of the current scientific consensus;
• There is no scientific consensus about the ILUC effects of different biofuels that would support such a classification; if it is done anyways, it is likely that it does more harm than good;
• Assigning a single ILUC factor to individual feedstocks has therefore no scientific basis.
• View the full Research Paper here