The Basque commitment and its place in European policy.

European Strategy

Amongst the recommendations to reduce Europe's external dependency contained in the European Commission’s green paper “A European Strategy for Sustainable, Competitive and Secure Energy” was the introduction of alternative fuels. The green paper recommended that by 2020, 20% of energy demand in the transport sector should be met by alternative energy sources (such as bioethanol). In March 2007, the Council of Ministers of the EU agreed on a minimum mandatory target of 10% consumption of biofuels by 2020.

Subsequent to the drafting of the green paper, on 8 May 2003, the European Parliament and the European Council approved a Directive on promotion of the use of biofuels or other renewable fuels for transport. The directive sets the following targets for biofuel penetration: 2% by 31 December 2005 and 5.75% by 31 December 2010. It also requires member states to set national targets and report each year to the European Commission on the levels attained and the promotion and encouragement measures adopted.

Energy Strategy of the Basque Country.

In the Basque Country, the targets in this field are set out in the Energy Strategy for the Basque Country 2010 (3E-2010) approved by the Basque Government in December 2004.

The strategy sets targets for biofuel production and consumption. In the area of production, the target for 2010 is for 50,000 tonnes per year of biodiesel and 220,000 tonnes per year of bioethanol. The target for consumption is to replace 177,000 toe/year  (toe: tonnes of oil equivalent) of conventional fuel by biofuel, the equivalent of 11.9% of the forecast demand for that year.

These figures are clear proof of the Basque Government's strong commitment to biofuel as a replacement for petroleum derivatives.