In order to help stimulate an informed debate on the costs and benefits of the European Union's biofuels policies, the Global Subsidies Initiative (GSI), a division of the International Institute for Sustainable Development, launched its report on subsidies to biofuels in the European Union today at the European Parliament in Brussels .

Download the GSI Report: "Biofuels at What Cost? Government Support for Ethanol and Biodiesel in the European Union"

The GSI report, "Biofuels: At What Cost? Government Support for Ethanol and Biodiesel in the European Union", questions the rationale behind the very large sums of money being invested in support of this particular form of energy.

Subsidies and other forms of government support are strongly linked to the amount of biofuels that are produced and consumed in the EU. While current policies have been promoted as a way to decrease CO2 emissions, they are an expensive and ineffective means to achieving that goal. Transfers per tonne of CO2-equivalent removed are estimated to be between 575 and 800 euros for ethanol made from sugar beet, around 215 euros for biodiesel made from used cooking oil, and over 600 euros for biodiesel made from rapeseed. Purchasing CO2-equivalent offsets on the European Climate Exchange would be far cheaper.

The International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) set up the Global Subsidies Initiative in December 2005 to examine the extent to which public subsidies can cause counterintuitive outcomes that undermine sustainable development. The GSI's aim is to look behind the official justifications offered for public subsidies and study the extent to which they make economic, environmental and social sense.

For more information on "Biofuels: at What Cost? Government Support for Ethanol and Biodiesel in the European Union", and the Brussels launch of the report, please contact Javed Ahmad, the GSI's Director of Communications, at [email protected].