MARKETS AND FINANCE BBiiooeenneerrggyy IInntteerrnnaattiioonnaall NNoo 7799,, 33--22001155 3333 On April 28 the European Parliament voted to endorse a compromise with European Coun- DJMPOJOEJSFDUMBOEVTFDIBOHF *-6$ 5IFFOEPSTFEMFHJTMBUJWFdraft sets a 7 percent cap on mSTUHFOFSBUJPOCJPGVFMTBOEBOPOCJOEJOHQFSDFOUUBSHFUGPSBEWBODFECJPGVFMT THE RENEWABLE ENERGY DIRECTIVE (RED) established mandatory targets for a 20 percent share of renewable energy in the EU’s energy consumption to be achieved by 2020. For the transport sector, a 10 percent target was set. At the same time, an amendment to the Fuel Quality Directive (FQD) introduced a mandatory target of a 6 percent reduction in the greenhouse gas (GHG) intensity of fuels used in road transport and non-road mobile machinery to be reached by 2020. When these directives were adopted, the European Parliament (EP) and the Council asked the Commission to review the negative effects on GHG savings which might result from the conversion of land and, if needs be, to present a legislative proposal. New proposal agreed On April 14, after several years of instensive debate, readings and proposals, the Environment Committee backed a compromise draft legislative proposal to put a 7 percent cap on first-generation biofuels, decribed as being derived “from crops grown on agricultural land”. It also requires fuel suppliers to report to EU countries and the EU Commission the estimated level of GHG emissions caused by indirect land use change (ILUC), requires the Commission to report and publish data on ILUC-related emissions, and obligates the Commission to report back to the EP and ministerial council on the scope for including ILUC emission figures in the existing sustainability criteria. For advanced biofuels, sourced from “certain types of waste and residues” and new sources such as seaweed, the draft legislation sets an “indicative target” of 0.5 % in all forms of transport by 2020. EU Member States (MS) will have to set a national target, no later than 18 months after the directive enters into force. However MS may set a lower target on certain grounds, such as a limited potential for production, technical or climatic constraints, or the existence of national policies that already allocate commensurate funding to incentives for energy efficiency and electric transport. – It was a very challenging file and we didn’t achieve all we wanted to achieve. There are very different capabilities and approaches between MS on advanced biofuels, some are willing to go forward more than others, as well as a very profound disagreement on ILUC factors, commented the Finnish lead MEP, Nils Torvalds, after the Environment Committee endorsed the proposal. On April 28 the EP voted to endorse the proposal which is now expected to be ratified into law and is expected to be ratified by the Council of the EU in June and subsequently MS will have to enact by 2017. Missed opportunities Stakeholders in the biofuels value change have welcomed the closure of the protracted “ILUC file” as bringing an end to regulatory uncertainty that has prevailed, though the absence of binding targets for advanced biofuels and ethanol, key measures previously proposed by the Parliament to differentiate between better biofuels, are a described as “missed opportunity.” – With its low ILUC and high GHG savings, European ethanol will be an essential part of the future transport fuel mix, said Robert Wright, Secretary General, European Renewable Ethanol Association (ePURE). He pointed out it is now up to MS to implement the revised Directives in a way that does not fragment the internal market for biofuels and ensure the roll out of E10 fuel across all MS. – The biodiesel industry needs long-term legislative stability and visibility to properly assess and then sustain its massive investments in Europe. The new text fails to fully protect with a grandfathering clause the huge investments undertaken by our industries and it also imposes disproportionate reporting obligations on all operators based on ILUC factors, which are not cohesively supported by the international scientific community, said Raffaello Garofalo, Secretary General, European Biodiesel Board (EBB), adding that the EU biodiesel chain looks forward to tackling the future of renewable transportation in Europe “in a different way.” – Our industries stand ready to open a constructive dialogue with all stakeholders and will strive to continuously improve the sustainability of biodiesel in order to fully contribute to the decarbonization of fuels in the EU in the next decade, said Garofalo. The Leaders of Sustainable Biofuels (LSB), a group composed of senior officials of major European biofuel producers and European airlines with the objective of supporting the development of advanced biofuels in Europe welcomed the conclusion of ILUC file and its “acknowledgement of the benefits” of advanced biofuels while pointing out that despite of years of discussion the compromise lacks “concrete and harmonized” measures. – Our industry has been calling for regulatory certainty for years. We hope that MS will show leadership and implement the advanced biofuel sub-target in their national policy creating the certainty needed for the new and emerging advanced biofuels industry. In those MS where policy has focused on advanced biofuels, most investments have materialized, said Marko Janhunen, Chair of LSB and Vice-President Stakeholder Relations UPM Biorefining, UPM a case in point. On the same day as the as the EP vote the Geneva, Switzerland-based Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials (RSB), a global and diverse coalition movement to ensure the sustainability of biomaterials production through a comprehensive certification system, released its draft “Low iLUC Risk Biomass Criteria and Compliance Indicators”. According to RSB Executive Director Rolf Hogan, the standrad will “allow certain producers to show they generate biofuels crops which do not impact food production.” The new ILUC standard is undergoing consultation with RSB members and will be finalized by the Assembly of Delegates at the June 1 General Assembly meeting in Geneva. The draft is an addon certification module to the existing RSB standard for biofuels and bio-products module and is based on the Low Indirect Impact Biofuels (LIIB) methodology, developed in collaboration with World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and Ecofys. Operators that are already RSB-certified and that comply with the new criteria and compliance indicators will be entitled to an extra “low ILUC risk” on-product claim. Editor’s note: the RSB draft can be found at www.rsb.org Text: Alan Sherrard BI79/4795/AS Photo: Shutterstock, Pincasso #JPGVFMTPOUIFSPBEBHBJO
Bioenergy no 3 May 2015
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