Biofuels—At What Cost?

This document is an addendum to the report 'Biofuels—At What Cost? A review of costs and benefits of EU biofuel policies', published by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) in August 2013. The addendum provides corrected 2011 estimates for EU biofuel subsidies, specifically revising the figures for fuel excise tax exemptions, and details the calculation methodologies used for budgetary support and market price support.

• The total estimate for EU biofuel subsidies in 2011 was revised downward to between €5,515 million and €6,896 million, a significant decrease from the original report's estimate of €9,272–€10,653 million.
• The primary reason for the revision was an overestimation of the volume of biofuels eligible for fuel excise tax exemptions. The corrected estimate for these exemptions is €2,047 million (€562 million for ethanol and €1,485 million for biodiesel), which is €3,757 million lower than previously reported.
• While fuel excise tax estimates were corrected, other subsidy categories remained unchanged, including market transfers, which represent the largest type of subsidy.
• Market price support for bioethanol in 2011 was estimated between €318 million and €736 million. This was calculated based on a price gap of €0.05–€0.12 per litre between the EU wholesale average price (€0.58–€0.63) and the world average price (€0.47), minus transport and handling charges.
• Market price support for biodiesel in 2011 was estimated between €3,097 million and €4,060 million, derived from a price gap of €0.22–€0.28 per litre between the EU wholesale average price (€0.83–€0.90) and the world average price (€0.62).
• The document notes that EU biodiesel production is a significant portion of the global market, averaging around 52% of world production between 2008 and 2010, whereas EU bioethanol production was a small part, averaging around 6% of world production in the same period.

APA

International Institute for Sustainable Development (2013). Biofuels—At What Cost? https://www.iisd.org/gsi/sites/default/files/biofuels_eu_addendum.pdf

Chicago

International Institute for Sustainable Development. Biofuels—At What Cost? 2013. https://www.iisd.org/gsi/sites/default/files/biofuels_eu_addendum.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=International Institute for Sustainable Development |title=Biofuels—At What Cost? |date=August 2013 |url=https://www.iisd.org/gsi/sites/default/files/biofuels_eu_addendum.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{internationalinstituteforsustainabledevelopment2013biofuelsat, author = {{International Institute for Sustainable Development}}, title = {{Biofuels—At What Cost?}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2013}, month = aug, url = {https://www.iisd.org/gsi/sites/default/files/biofuels_eu_addendum.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }