Biofuel Cities European Partnership

Biofuel Cities European Partnership was a consortium fulfilled its run in December 2009. The project�s website, which is still running, is described as a "one-stop-shop for information and exchange on the broadscale application of liquid and gaseous biofuels."

On the Biofuel Cities website, visitors can have access to a Europe-wide directory on biofuel projects and activities, read news on biofuels activities and past events and find out more about related policies, legislation, technology, among other topics. The Partnership also provided tools to connect to key biofuel players through online facilities that offered twinning, project co-operation and networking opportunities, as well as tools for biofuel project assessment.

One of the reasons why Biofuel Cities European Partnership was set up is because in the EU transport is responsible for an estimated 21% of all greenhouse gas emissions, which contribute to global warming. Worryingly, that percentage is rising. In order to meet emission reduction goals agreed upon under the Kyoto Protocol, Europe needs to find ways to reduce emissions from transport.

For that reason, the EU has set out policy objectives, namely an efficiency policy influencing the use of vehicles and a policy for climate-neutral transport fuels. Biofuels use trees and plants as energy sources, which makes them potentially carbon-neutral. However, growing feedstock and producing biofuel does generate CO2 emissions. The Biofuel Cities website claims that the EU�s current generation of biofuels achieves a 30-50% reduction in CO2 emissions, when compared with fossil fuels. It also claims that biofuels will be developed in such a way that they can potentially achieve a reduction of around 90% or even higher.