The European Commission is considering tightening the greenhouse gas reduction standards for its proposed biofuels policy, the European Union's agriculture commissioner said Tuesday.
Responding to mounting criticism of biofuels in the face of rising food prices, Mariann Fischer Boel said the commission is discussing stronger reduction requirements for biofuels after 2015.
The commission's current proposal requires 10% of the continent's transportation fuel come from biofuel by 2020. It stipulates that the types of biofuels used must reduce carbon dioxide emissions and other greenhouse gases by 35% compared with petroleum-based fuels.
"We will be open to the idea of raising that threshold of 35% after 2015," she said.