Biofuels Production and Consumption in the European Union (EU): Status, Advances and Challenges

by Laura Lonza and Adrian O'Connell (EAI Bioenergy Task 39) 1. Status of the biofuels industry in the EU The EU is the third largest producer of biofuels in the world. In 2017, North America, South & Central America and Europe had world shares of 45.5%, 26.9% and 16.8%, respectively. The EU’s biofuels production in 2018 is estimated to be about 18.8 million tonnes. The main biofuels being produced are biodiesel (fatty acid methyl ester or FAME), renewable diesel produced by hydrogenating (hydrotreating) animal and vegetable oils and fats (also known as hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) or hydrotreated esters and fatty acids (HEFA)), as well ethanol and a small but growing
amount of biomethane in some countries (e.g., Germany and the Netherlands).

2. Policies driving the production and consumption of biofuels
The policy mechanisms stimulating increased production and use of biofuels within EU Member States are the EU’s Energy Directive (RED, 2009/28/EC) and Fuel Quality Directive (2009/30/EC), as amended in 2015 by establishing – among others – a 7% cap for food/feed-competing feedstocks to comply with the mandatory 10% renewables transport sub-target in the RED (so-called ILUC Directive ((EU) 2015/1513).

2.2. Sustainability criteria in RED II
The RED II defines a series of sustainability and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission criteria that transport biofuels must comply with to count towards the 14% target and to be eligible for financial support by public authorities.

2.3.Advanced biofuels
Within the 14% transport sub-target, there is a dedicated target for advanced biofuels produced from feedstocks listed in Part A of Annex IX (see Table 3). These advanced biofuels must supply a minimum of 0.2% of transport energy by 2022, 1% by 2025, and at least 3.5% by 2030.

2.4.Caps and multipliers
The maximum contribution of biofuels produced from food and feed crops will be capped at 2020 consumption levels plus an additional 1%, with a maximum cap of 7% for road and rail transport fuels in each Member State. For comparison, the EU average is just above 5% today, with the 2018 EU Biofuels Barometer indicating that the current
share of biofuels from food and feed crops is just over 4%.

Renewable electricity will count 4 times its energy content towards the 14% renewable energy in transport target when used in road vehicles, and 1.5 times when used in rail transport.

Fuels used in aviation and maritime sectors can opt in to contribute to the RED II’s 14% transport target but are not obligated. The contribution of non-food feedstock-based renewable fuels to these sectors will count 1.2 times their energy content.

2.5.Flexibility
RED II grants individual EU Member States (MS) broader margins of flexibility compared to the original RED when translating this EU Directive into their national legislation, ....

3. Advances and challenges in biofuels technologies
Consistent with EU’s regulatory framework, technological and market research in Europe are largely focussed on ‘advanced’ biofuels from non-food or feed feedstocks (Table 3), a situation which is expected to continue – or even consolidate – upon the formal adoption of RED II.

Two imperatives for the EU’s biofuels industry are access to sustainable feedstocks in sufficient volumes and conversion processes able to perform well and at scale on such feedstocks. Three categories of conversion technologies are relevant to achieving the RED II’s mandatory targets: biochemical, thermochemical, and oleochemical production routes. Oleochemical is the most proven and the use of waste and residues as feedstocks is expanding, and is expected to continue to do so as a result of regulation. Each one of these broad conversion categories includes a number of subtechnologies.
The remainder of this section highlights the main identified challenges for each.

4. Conclusions
The existing and forthcoming regulatory framework in the EU requires certain areas or aspects within each biofuel technology pathway to be further developed. Improvements in these areas will yield the greatest benefits towards making these biofuel pathways commercially successful in pursuit of the EU’s established mandatory biofuels targets.

For lignocellulosic pathways, a robust operation demonstrating steady and reliable production will be key to derisk further commercialization of the technology. Detailed and verifiable results from an operating facility will be highly beneficial to all parties; it is understood that results can be commercially sensitive, but without such clarity it is unlikely that future R&D investments will be targeted as efficiently as possible. For anaerobic digestion, further developments in the successful use of lignocellulosic feedstocks and other complex waste streams will help resolve the currently constraining issues of feedstock availability and sustainability; improving digestate valorisation and biogas upgrading to biomethane are other key elements that will enable this technology to be more widely implemented. For BtL, smaller scale operations and enhanced process integration may help to make these approaches more financially appealing. In general, co-processing of bio-crudes and bio-oils in existing refining infrastructure is an area of increasing focus, with obvious economic benefits to be realized by taking advantage of existing facilities and technologies. The fine tuning of the systems that produce such bio-crudes is also likely to reap considerable rewards, especially if this can produce
materials that can be more easily upgraded. For FAME and HVO pathways, a on-going search for sustainable feedstocks remains the key issue, although there are some benefits to be gained by further improving the basic processes themselves. READ MORE