The European Union has imposed duties on imports of subsidised biodiesel from Indonesia in order to level the playing field for EU producers, officials said Tuesday.

The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, imposed temporary duties ranging from eight percent to 18 percent but warned it could impose permanent measures by the end of the year.

A Commission investigation "found that Indonesian biodiesel producers benefit from grants, tax benefits and access to raw materials below market prices," it said.

"This inflicts a threat of economic damage to EU producers," the commission statement said.

The commission said its investigation focused on possible subsidies for biodiesel production, whether it involved palm oil or other, less-used, raw material.

It said the EU biodiesel market is worth an estimated nine billion euros ($10.1 billion) a year, with imports from Indonesia amounting to 400 million euros.

Palm oil is the world's most widely used vegetable oil and a key ingredient in a wide range of products from food to cosmetics.

But environmentalists say it drives deforestation, with huge swathes of Southeast Asian rainforest logged in recent decades to make way for palm plantations.

Indonesian trade minister Enggartiasto Lukita said last week he had told Indonesia's dairy importers to look for new suppliers outside Europe, and threatened to hike existing tariffs on EU dairy products, which currently range from 5-10 percent.

Related Links
Bio Fuel Technology and Application News

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The Space Media Network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceMediaNetwork Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceMediaNetwork Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Novel catalysis approach reduces carbon dioxide to methane
Newark DE (SPX) Aug 05, 2019
A growing number of scientists are looking for fast, cost-effective ways to convert carbon dioxide gas into valuable chemicals and fuels. Now, an international team of researchers has revealed a new approach that utilizes a series of catalytic reactions to electrochemically reduce carbon dioxide to methane, the main ingredient in natural gas, eliminating an intermediate step usually needed in the reduction process. "We want to supply renewable electricity and take carbon dioxide from the atm ... read more