Briefing

More palm oil and rapeseed oil in our tanks than on our plates

July 2, 2020

In the last 10 years the EU has seen an increase in the use of vegetable oil for energy production - mostly biodiesel.

Last year marked the 10th anniversary of the adoption of the Renewable Energy Directive (RED) which has, since 2009, promote the use of renewables in transport with the aim of contributing to the decarbonisation of the economy. However, due to poor sustainability criteria, the RED has pushed the use of food- and feed-based biofuels, especially vegetable oil biodiesel based on oils such as palm and rapeseed. These however do not contribute to climate change mitigation as they – directly and indirectly – lead to deforestation and peatland drainage.

2019 was an all-time high for vegetable oil biodiesel production and consumption, and for palm oil biodiesel in particular. Other trends are confirmed as well, such as the increase on soy oil biodiesel production and consumption as well as used cooking oil (UCO) biodiesel.

Netherlands – country factsheet biodiesel 2009-2019 data

France – country factsheet biodiesel 2009-2019 data