BRUSSELS, Nov. 1 (UPI) -- The United States and the European Union are planning a biofuels deal, their first move in a broad project to increase EU-U.S. trade and investment.
The provisional biofuels accord is principally concerned with opening the European market for jatropha, the Financial Times said in Brussels Thursday. The once obscure shrub found in tropical and subtropical climates is considered by some producers as one of the world's most suitable biodiesel crops.
Under a 2003 EU directive, 5.75 percent of transport fuel, excluding aviation fuel, must come from biofuels by 2010, a target due to rise to 10 percent by 2020. This is increasing demand for biofuels, made mostly from grains and vegetable oils.
Plans for the project is to be detailed at the first meeting of the Transatlantic Economic Council, an initiative unveiled last April by U.S. President George Bush and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
