A plan to increase the use of biofuels in Europe, to be outlined next week, may do nothing to help fight climate change and incur costs that outweigh the benefits, says an internal European Union report.

The unpublished study by the Joint Research Centre, the European Commission’s in-house scientific institute, was prepared ahead of the commission’s meeting next Wednesday when it is set to endorse plans for biofuels to account for 10 per cent of transport fuels in the 27-member EU by 2020.