The United Nations climate change conference in Lima, Peru (COP 2014) should adopt policies to increase the use of biofuels like ethanol to reduce global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, said the Global Renewable Fuels Alliance (GRFA).

It said in a statement Dec 9 that biofuels are one of the most commerically viable solutions to reducing GHG emissions in the transport sector.

GRFA said 25 percent to 30 percent of all global GHG emissions come from the transportation sector. As such, it said the ongoing COP 2014 conference in Lima should adopt policies that include the increased use of biofuels.

GRFA is an international federation that represents 60 percent of the world's renewable fuels production from 30 different countries.

"Nearly a third of global GHGs comes from the transportation sector, those GHGs need to be a priority if we are going to make a significant contribution to combating climate change. Biofuels must be an integral part of that fight," said Bliss Baker, spokesperson for GRFA.

The GRFA said biofuels like ethanol have been proven to reduce GHG emissions from 40 percent to 90 percent in comparison to fossil fuels.

GRFA said it had forecast global ethanol production in 2014 to reach 90.38 billion liters (23.87 billion gallons) and its use would reduce global GHG emissions by over 106 million metric tons. This in turn, it said, was the equivalent of removing over 21 million cars from the road annually.

"106 million (metric tons) is a substantial GHG savings, it's the same as removing the annual emissions from 14 average-size coal-fired power plants. However, as the IEA (International Energy Agency) has prescribed recently, more biofuels are needed to further reduce the emissions from the global transport sector," said Baker.

GRFA said the IEA's "Technology Roadmap : Biofuels for Transport" report states "by 2050, biofuels could provide 27 percent of total transport fuel" and the use of biofuels would provide one fifth of emission reductions in the transport sector.

"It's clear that today, biofuels like ethanol, are helping combat climate change but to reach their full potential requires enhanced biofuels-friendly policies. The outcome of COP 2014 must be the adoption of policies that increase biofuels use and reduce our reliance on fossil fuels," Baker added.