EU limits subsidies for burning trees under renewable energy directive

MEPs vote on amendment to phase down share of wood counted as renewable but reject calls for complete phaseout

The European parliament has called to end public subsidies for the environmentally destructive practice of burning trees for fuel, but campaigners warned the plans risked being too little, too late".

Voting on an amendment to the EU's renewable energy directive, MEPs called to phase down" the share of trees counted as renewable energy in EU targets. But they swerved setting any dates to reduce the burning of primary wood". They rejected calls for a complete phaseout of a form of energy generation that scientists have warned releases more carbon into the atmosphere than burning gas or coal.