The EU’s plans to foster the use of biodiesel could be jeopardised after media reports emerged of large-scale fraud by Chinese companies misrepresenting biodiesel exports to obtain generous European grants.
Europe is presently experiencing a surge of Chinese biodiesel imports, helped by subsidy schemes put in place by the EU Commission and a commitment to have biofuels provide 3.5% of transport needs by 2030.
EU climate legislation has created an artificial demand for biodiesel ripe for abuse, with aircraft now mandated to include it among other biofuels from 2025 on.
Chinese producers are accused of using substandard ingredients such as excess cooking oil and industrial waste to pass off as high-grade biodiesel, even adding colouring to make their products more authentic.
Suspicion was raised when researchers noticed an unusual increase in waste palm oil being imported into China from Malaysia and Indonesia—likely for biodiesel production coinciding with the export surge. Authorities this week increased the frequency of audits on Chinese biodiesel; Europe is heavily reliant on biodiesel imports due to an incapacity to meet its demand.
Industry experts warn of an existential threat to Europe’s homegrown biodiesel industry unable to compete with the imports. The International Council for Clean Transportation said in a report that the majority of growth in the Chinese biodiesel industry is now driven by exports to Europe.
The use of biodiesel forms a key part of the EU’s green transition platform and is made through the conversion of vegetable oil, itself derived from the extraction of oil from plant material. The added demand for vegetable oil has elicited concern that biodiesel production could increase food prices due to the amount of land it requires to make.
A recent study estimated that Europe, using the amount of land as the entire island of Ireland, could feed 120 million people daily. Europe’s fixation on biodiesel has received blistering attacks even from green advocates, such as Oxfam’s climate justice policy advisor Julie Bos, who described EU biofuel policy as an extra burden at a time of already rising prices.
The EU’s biofuel policy is a catastrophe for hundreds of millions of people who are struggling to find their next meal. Not only does it surrender vast swathes of cropland to fuel cars, but it also pushes food prices even higher. European countries must once and for all stop burning food for fuel.
Speaking to the market research platform Argus, European producers explained how the fraudulent Chinese imports are creating an uneven playing field for them to compete against, and were reducing the incentive for biodiesel to be produced in Europe.
A problem entirely of the EU’s and the green lobby’s making, the dysfunctional biodiesel sector will only further the dependence of the continent on Beijing, right at the time that a schism with China looks more and more likely.
Unable to set their own energy agenda without the suffocating hand of Brussels, Europeans are gradually learning the human and geopolitical impact of mild-sounding EU energy policies.
