With EU member states having agreed legal obligations to meet by 2020, the next four years offer positive prospects for growth in ethanol demand in Europe, Jerome Bignon, president of the European renewable ethanol association (ePURE), says in the group’s 2015/16 activity report, published last week.

He said that the year has been brighter for the European ethanol sector as prices have rebounded and idled plants are coming back online. Bignon, however, called on the European Commission to ensure that member states meet their 2020 targets on time.

The European Parliament last Thursday pointed out that the EU’s 10% renewables goal for transport by 2020 is “significantly lagging behind”. It also urged the European Commission to improve the framework for biofuels with high greenhouse gas savings post-2020.

“The roll-out of higher ethanol-petrol blends, such as E10, is proven to be the most cost effective option for Member States to achieve the