Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-03-11-Speech-2-423"
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"en.20080311.35.2-423"2
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Madam President, biogas can play an important role in combating climate change, not just biogas to produce heat and electricity but also to drive vehicles. Biogas can be produced, for example, from manure and household waste. There is currently great potential for a substantial increase in the production of biogas. In the Committee on the Environment we want to respond positively to this possibility and in the future see much more biogas. Increased biogas production must not be an end in itself, however. When it comes to waste, the main priority must still be to reduce the total quantity of waste. If we are to reduce waste, we must – saying this is like swearing in church – reduce our consumption.
I should like to take the opportunity to put a couple of questions to Commissioner Fischer Boel, who is with us this evening: does the Commission have a strategy for reducing the ever growing waste mountain in the EU? Perhaps the Commission also has a strategy to help us reduce the consumption of so many goods that we do not really need?
In the Environment Committee we also want to see certification for sustainable biogas. Such a certification system must cover the entire chain, i.e. from field to vehicle. The certification system must be founded on social and environmental considerations. I welcome the Commission’s proposal for a new directive on renewable fuels, but more needs to be done to enhance the role of biogas. One more question for Mrs Fischer Boel: what is your view of such a certification system?
This and other environment-related questions underscore the importance of public responsibility. Most of us here agree that we should boost the role of biogas. More cars and lorries should be able to run on biogas. Biogas reduces emissions of greenhouse gases from cars by as much as 90%. In addition, particulate emissions are also reduced and cars run more quietly on gas. However, if we are really serious about our environmental commitments, the responsibility cannot be left to the market.
For example, to enable more cars to run on biogas, there must be filling stations where they can fill up with gas. The State must ensure that filling stations face up to their responsibility through legislation and temporary funding. In my homeland, Sweden, the last filling station on a drive to the north is in Uppsala, which is in the middle of the country. In other words, motorists who like to keep their tanks topped up have to drive for more than 1000 km without any chance of filling up with biogas. That is of course unacceptable. Hence we all have a responsibility for promoting biogas: the EU by drawing up guidelines, the Member States by stimulating national production, and not least the local authorities, which should build more biogas installations."@en1
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