Abstract

Over the last decade, EU biofuels policy has been invested with hope as a central plank of the transition to a low-carbon economy while simultaneously attracting vilification for its alleged adverse impact on, among other things, land use, food prices, and water usage.

On Friday 3 August 2012 the Australian National University’s Centre for European Studies held an invitation-only Roundtable for academic experts and policy-makers to discuss the development and impact of biofuels policies in Europe and Australia. Although the main focus of Roundtable discussion was on the possibilities for a sustainable transport policy that reduced greenhouse gas emissions, biofuels and biofuels policies are multi-faceted; contributions ranged widely to include analysis of issues such as the political backlashes against biofuels, the specification of sustainability criteria for biofuels usage, technological change in the bioenergy sector, energy security, agricultural markets and food security.

The participants in the Roundtable were asked to contribute a short summary of their perspectives on biofuels from either a European or Australian policy development. Although in no sense exhausting the list of salient questions in biofuels policy, these contributions reflect main dimensions of the governance challenges ahead for the EU and Australia in renewable energy. The Roundtable was held under the Chatham House Rule. The different contributions below are de-identified in line with this rule except where the contributor has agreed in advance to be revealed.

The Roundtable was stimulated by inputs from two ANUCES Visiting Fellows, who are both leading international biofuels policy experts: Professor Robert Ackrill from Nottingham Trent University in the UK and Professor Karel Janda of Charles University, Prague. Professors Ackrill and Janda each provide distinctive overviews of the topics covered at the end of this briefing paper—of EU biofuels policy and possible lessons for others, such as Australia.

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