The Clean Air Task Force and Friends of the Earth filed today a lawsuit to the EPA's Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) in the U.S. Court of Appeals and petitioned the EPA to reconsider its assumption regarding land conversion. The EPA's finalized regulations for the RFS released in March 2010 do not meet standards set in Congress 2007 expansion of the RFS biofuels mandate. The 2007 RFS included requirements that biofuels reduce net greenhouse gas emissions compared to conventional gasoline and diesel. Safeguards to protect natural ecosystems from biofuel crop production were also included.

Friends of the Earth Energy Policy Campaigner Kate McMahon had the following comment: "The EPA must look at the impact that the biofuels mandate is having on global warming today and not use rosy projections about what the state of biofuel production will be in 2022. Using these projections ensures that for the next several years greenhouse gas emissions will only get worse, rather than better. The EPA also needs to take into consideration current research about existing land conversion for biofuels crop production and provide the congressionally mandated safeguards for natural ecosystems."

The European Commission adopted today four ecodesign regulations 1 to improve the energy efficiency of industrial motors, circulators, televisions, refrigerators and freezers. The regulations lay down energy efficiency requirements which will save about 190 TWh per year by 2020, which is comparable to the combined annual electricity consumption of Sweden and Austria. "This package is a milestone on the road to achieving our energy efficiency, climate change and economic recovery objectives. It will save impressive amounts of electricity, CO2 emissions and electricity costs, while creating jobs and boosting the deployment of highly innovative technologies," said Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs. The regulation on motors sets energy performance requirements for most of the electric motors used in industrial applications . Furthermore it will foster the use of "variable speed drives" adjusting the motor output to the actual needs, instead of operating always at full capacity. The energy savings triggered by the motor regulation are about 135 TWh per year by 2020.

"These groundbreaking measures respond to the request of the 2007 Spring European Council to the Commission (confirmed by the European Parliament) to address the efficiency of lighting products both in the domestic and tertiary sectors by 2009. They deliver a clear message about the EU's commitment to reach its energy efficiency and climate protection targets. By replacing last century lighting products by more performant technologies, European homes, buildings and streets will keep the same quality of lighting, while saving energy, CO2 and money", said Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs.

In two meetings of the Ecodesign Regulatory Committee held in Autumn 2008, the Representatives of the Member States endorsed the Commission's draft regulation improving the energy efficiency of household lamps and of street, office and industrial lighting products. Then the draft regulations were sent to the European Parliament for consultation. The Commission has taken today the formal adoption, the last step of the comitology procedure.

The two regulations set energy efficiency, functionality and product information requirements for households lamps (in particular incandescent bulbs, halogen lamps and compact fluorescent lamps), as well as for lighting products typically used in office, street and industrial lighting (fluorescent lamps, high-intensity discharge lamps and related ballasts and luminaires).

The regulation takes into account user expectations in terms of aesthetics, functionality and health concerns. It progressively removes inefficient conventional bulbs and other lighting products from the market in a way that allows manufacturers to adapt their production for efficient alternatives.