EU’s Dismissal of Crop-Based Biofuels Will Impede Transport Decarbonisation: Industry

Business News/Analysis European Union (EU)Feedstocks Field/Orchard/Plantation Crops/Residues Funding/Financing/Investing Not Agriculture Opinions Policy Sustainability

May 18, 2021

Print This Article Share it With Friends

by Sean Goulding Carroll (EurActiv) The EU’s decision to cap the share of crop-based biofuels in the bloc’s energy mix risks hampering efforts to decarbonise the transport sector, industry has warned ahead of the revision of the renewable energy directive.

Environmentalists, on the contrary, say the EU executive is not going far enough in stemming the use of biofuels, arguing that fuels from virgin crops cannot be sustainable.

The updated renewable energy directive proposal, due to be presented on 14 July as part of a broader package of climate legislation, upholds a limit on the use of so-called first-generation biofuels made from food crops.

A 2015 update of the directive placed a 7% limit on how much crop-based biofuel can be used in the transport sector, and counted towards the renewable energy goals of EU member states.

“The contribution of biofuels from food and feed crops for decarbonisation is limited due to their impact on indirect land use change and their contribution should be minimised,” states a leaked proposal, seen by EURACTIV.

Indirect land use change (ILUC) refers to the designation of land for biofuel production that would otherwise be reserved for agricultural use. Environmentalists say this could lead to areas such as forests and wetlands being converted for agriculture, releasing large amounts of carbon and cancelling out emissions savings made in industry.

The draft proposal sets a target of sourcing 38-40% of energy from renewables by 2030, with the renewables target for transport rising from 15% to 26%.

...

Emmanuel Desplechin, Secretary General of ePURE, the European renewable ethanol association, welcomed the higher targets for renewables in transport, but criticised the EU executive’s dismissal of first-generation biofuels.

“Unfortunately, the Commission has recently shown it still seems inclined to seek to minimise the contribution of crop-based biofuels from the road transport energy mix – even though such biofuels have been the main contributor to displacing fossil fuel and are essential to meeting 2030 greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets,” Desplechin said in emailed comments.

“Without liquid and gaseous biofuels, 99.97% of EU road transport energy would be fossil,” he added.

...

The European Biodiesel Board (EBB), an industry group representing biodiesel producers, warned the limit on crop-based biofuels will harm efforts to cut emissions from heavy vehicles, such as vans, buses, and trucks.

“Today, crop-based biofuels such as biodiesel are the main contributor to transport decarbonisation, have a positive impact on protein production and contribute to the circular economy. Therefore, the existing cap on sustainable crop-based biofuels should also be reassessed upwards to unleash their full potential,” EBB Secretary General Xavier Noyon told EURACTIV.

Noyon cautioned that the incorporation of renewable energy into road transport should not be “artificially inflated by excessive multipliers”.

Multipliers act as an incentive to use certain energy sources by allowing them to be counted at a higher value against EU targets. For example, waste-based biofuels, such as used cooking oil, have a multiplier of two, meaning they can be double counted towards targets.

The crop-based biofuel industry is a frequent critic of these multipliers, arguing that they allow EU countries to give the impression that they are using more renewables than is the case.

The proposal also increases the sub-target for ‘advanced biofuels’ – made from non-food sources such as forestry or agricultural waste – from 3.5% to 5.5%.

The increased mandate was welcomed by Gloria Gaupmann, chair of the Advanced Biofuel Coalition, who said it was key to driving investment in advanced biofuel production capacity. READ MORE

LEAK: EU’s draft renewables law confirms 38-40% target for 2030 (EurActiv)

RED II: EU Commission can’t see the wood for the trees, analysts warn (EurActiv)

Why RED III will fail just as three Renewable Energy Directives have already (EurActiv)

EU farmers chief: Commission is ‘ultra-orthodox’ on biofuels’ sustainability (EurActiv)

Excerpt from EurActiv LEAK:

An increase in the renewables target for transport, from 14% to 26%.
And increase in the sub-target for advanced biofuels, from 3.5% to 5.5%, and the introduction of a dedicated supply obligation for aviation
...
Mainstreaming of renewable electricity in transport, and heating and cooling.
A certification system for renewable and low-carbon fuels. READ MORE

Excerpt from EurActiv RED II: “The data shows that oil will not be displaced in any meaningful quantities before 2030. EU transport decarbonisation policies between 2020 and 2030 will achieve precious little – only about an 3% decrease in oil consumption, a tiny bit better than business as usual. It seems like another lost decade we are facing. EU member states are left alone to make climate progress on their own,” (Zoltán) Szabó said.

The Hungarian analyst explained that the EU policymakers are losing sight of the big picture as they focus on marginal elements in transport.

“Oil will need to be displaced in the existing fleet until 2030. This is the big picture. A reality check every two years may ensure that oil consumption is reduced, and not just by a paltry 3%. Oil will be replaced by all sustainable renewables such as renewable electricity, crop ethanol or advanced biofuels,” he said.

...

Although promising, both electric cars and advanced biofuels will need time to scale up in terms of affordability and, in the meantime, cost-effective solutions need to be found.

...

MEP Sean Kelly said considering oil’s current dominance, Europe needs to be realistic in its ambitions.

“The response to the sector will have to be varied and it will include electrification, sourced from renewables, as well as low carbon fuels such as bioethanol as well as hydrogen in some cases. Biofuels will have a strong role to play in particular in the maritime and aviation sectors,” he said.

The centre-right Irish MEP told EURACTIV that Europe should also look at the incentives in place for companies to produce biofuels, under the principles of the circular economy, to ensure that we utilise our resources as efficiency as possible in the low-carbon economic transition.

“There should not be a case where high-quality biofuels are unable to qualify because they could technically be used for low quality animal feed, which may not be financially viable due to low return of investment costs. This is something which could have positive implications for many rural areas as new sources of revenue would be created.”

...

In RED II, the Commission decided to cap first-generation biofuels such as ethanol and biodiesel due to indirect land use change (iLUC) concerns. EPure said this no longer applies to European biofuels since the delegated act on high ILUC risk-biofuels separated the good from the bad.

“There’s no longer any reason to hinder greater renewable energy incorporation in transport by penalising some high environmentally performing biofuels such as European renewable ethanol,” he (ePURE’s Emmanuel Desplechin) said. READ MORE