Green Fuels Shortage Looming Due to EU Restrictions, Industry Warns

by Sean Goulding Carroll (EURACTIV.com) Europe is in danger of failing to meet the transport industry’s soaring demand for sustainable liquid fuels due to EU restrictions on biofuels, a new industry position paper has claimed.

Demand for green liquid fuels in Europe is set to double by 2030, an industry-commissioned study found, as the EU seeks to decarbonise maritime, aviation, and heavy-duty road transport by replacing fossil fuels.

Meeting the targets set out in the revised renewable energy directive, FuelEU Maritime, and the ReFuelEU Aviation mandates will require around 42 million tonnes of oil equivalent, according to the study.

The expansion of the EU’s carbon market to private cars is additionally expected to boost demand for low-carbon fuels ahead of the mass adoption of zero-emission vehicles across the bloc.

Biofuels remain the EU’s primary substitute for fossil fuels in much of the transport sector, representing around four-fifths of the renewable energy in transport in 2020.

Drop-in liquid alternatives such as e-fuels are not yet available in commercial quantities, while zero-emission technology in the aviation and maritime sectors are yet to mature.

But the European Biodiesel Board (EBB), a trade association representing biodiesel producers, cautioned that unless biofuel caps are lifted, Europe will not meet its green transport targets.

“The Fit for 55 package is triggering more demand for renewable liquid fuels with lower feedstock availability, introducing diverging biofuel sustainability frameworks, and relying heavily on future technologies and fuels. All this to reduce the contribution sustainable biodiesel can make,” said Xavier Noyon, the secretary-general of EBB.

In the short term, Europe is likely to remain reliant on fossil fuels to meet its transport needs.

Internal European Commission documents show that Brussels expects the transport sector to be overwhelmingly dependent on fossil fuels up to 2030.

Member states are also unable to go beyond a 1% point increase compared to the 2020 national share of these fuels in rail and road transport – so if the consumption of crop-based biofuels in 2020 was 4%, the country could not surpass 5% this year.

However, biofuels companies have criticised the choice of 2020 as reference year, arguing it was “atypical” due to pandemic-imposed travel restrictions.

Waste-based biofuels produced from used cooking oil and animal lipids are subject to a 1.7% cap, though member states may apply to raise this limit.

Alex Mason, a senior policy officer with green NGO WWF, said scaling up biofuels “makes absolutely no sense in climate terms”.

“Far from removing EU restrictions [on crop-based biofuels] we should be tightening them, and limiting incentives to wastes and residues,” he told EURACTIV.

“The solution for the vast majority of transport is electrification, including by using fuels produced from renewable electricity,” he added. READ MORE

Excerpt from Biofuels International: A new European Biodiesel Board (EBB) paper has highlighted how Europe may fail to meet the transport industry’s rising demand for sustainable liquid fuels due to EU biofuel legislation.
The EBB said demand for green liquid fuels in Europe was set to double by 2030 as the EU goes on its decarbonising path in the maritime, aviation and heavy-duty road transport industries.
FuelEU Maritime and the ReFuelEU Aviation mandates will require around 42 million tonnes of oil equivalent to meet the targets set out in the revised renewable energy directive.
The expansion of the EU’s carbon market to private cars, as reported by Euractiv, is additionally expected to boost demand for low-carbon fuels ahead of the mass adoption of zero-emission vehicles across the bloc.

“The FF55 package is triggering more demand for renewable liquid fuels with lower feedstock availability, introducing diverging biofuel sustainability frameworks, and relying heavily on future technologies and fuels. All this to reduce the contribution sustainable biodiesel can make,”said EBB secretary general Xavier Noyon. READ MORE