VZCZCXYZ0001
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHMD #1047 2770953
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 030953Z OCT 08
FM AMEMBASSY MADRID
TO RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 0643
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5394

UNCLAS MADRID 001047 
 
SIPDIS 
 
USDA EXEC PASS RURAL DEVELOPMENT/DORR, HEFFERNAN, STACEY; 
USDA FAS FOR OCRA/SALMON, SEIDBAND; OSTA/MACKE; OFSO/YOUNG; 
BRUSSELS PASS AG MINISTER COUNSELOR 
BERLIN PASS AG COUNSELOR 
STATE FOR EEB/ESC/IEC 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAGR SENV ENRG TRGY KGHG SP
SUBJECT: SPAIN SKEPTICAL OF EU BIOFUELS SUSTAINABILITY 
CRITERIA UNDER DISCUSSION 
 
REF: A. SECSTATE 99217 
     ¶B. SECSTATE 98110 
     ¶C. USEU BRUSSELS 1439 
 
¶1. (U) SUMMARY:  Spain is skeptical of the sustainability 
criteria under discussion in the EU.  Spanish officials 
attending EU discussions on these criteria said that as 
drafted they are not based on sound economic and scientific 
models and that they would discriminate against biomass and 
biofuel relative to other energy sources such as coal and 
oil.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (SBU) On September 29, USDA Under Secretary for Rural 
Development, Thomas C. Dorr, met with Mr. Enrique Jimenez the 
Director General of Spain's Energy Diversification and 
Conservation Institute (IDAE) within the Ministry of 
Industry, Tourism and Trade while U/S Dorr was in Spain to 
speak at the EU-US Business Energy Roundtable held in Madrid. 
 Mr. Carlos A. Fernandez, Head of Biofuels, IDAE, Hugo Lucas, 
Head of International Relations, IDAE, and K. Snipes, Acting 
Ag Couns, also attended the meeting.  U/S Dorr presented U.S. 
concerns regarding the sustainability discussion.  Director 
General Jimenez responded that Spain shared many of our 
concerns and asked to have his staff who attend the relevant 
meetings in Brussels on biofuels and sustainability criteria 
present their views. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Mr. Lucas said that Spain believed the current 
discussion was taking place without the necessary analysis of 
the effects of such criteria on land use and biomass and 
biofuel production and felt that more analysis was needed 
before any such standards were implemented.  U/S Dorr 
responded that the USDA was working with Iowa State 
University on such studies and we would share the information 
with Spain.  Mr. Lucas added that such criteria targeted only 
at biofuels and biomass would discriminate against the 
renewable energy sector as compared to other energy sources 
such as coal and oil. 
 
¶4. (U) Mr. Fernandez hoped that the United States and Spain 
could collaborate on future analysis regarding land use and 
biofuels.  U/S Dorr agreed and asked Acting Ag Counselor to 
follow up on future cooperation with the IDAE. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Also on September 29 Under Secretary of State Paula 
Dobriansky and USDA Under Secretary Dorr met with Teresa 
Ribera, Secretary of State for Climate Change, Spanish 
Ministry of Environment, Rural Development and Marine 
Affairs, primarily to discuss climate change. U/S Dorr 
expressed concern about the EU biofuels sustainability 
criteria proposed by France.  He said these criteria would be 
suspect if, like EU actions on agricultural biotechnology, 
they were not science-based.  Ribera acknowledged the value 
of biofuels but added in her view they were a transitional 
technology and would not provide a long-term solution as fuel 
for transport.  (Comment: In previous meetings Ribera 
stressed her vision of a future with electric vehicles. End 
comment.) 
 
¶6. (SBU) Comment: All three Spanish officials from IDAE 
believed that the sustainability criteria agenda was being 
pushed through by political interests in Europe beholden to 
the environmental or green parties.  They felt that once the 
French Presidency of the EU passes at the end of 2008, more 
clear thinking would prevail.  They look forward to Spain's 
EU Presidency which will be January - June 2010. Secretary of 
State for Climate Change Ribera said little about the 
specifics of the sustainability criteria and is less involved 
with Spain's policy making on these issues. End Comment. 
KELLER