News Energy
Biofuel needed in energy transition
The European Commission is reviewing the Renewable energy directive (Red) - part of the Green Deal. Biofuels are a controversial subject in this regard. Critics believe that policy makers pay too little attention to realistic solutions to reduce buoyant greenhouse gas emissions in the medium term.
Among other things, the Commission wants to stick to a maximum quantity of biofuels. The European farmers' interest group Copa-Cogeca believes that farmers are deprived of access to a potentially important market. In 2015, it was stipulated that a maximum of 7% of the fuel may consist of first-generation biofuels (fuel made from food crops).
Biofuel desperately needed
"If we stick to the maximum blending percentage of 7%, we will not have access to a potentially important market as an agricultural and forestry sector," Copa-Cogeca chairman Pekka Pesonen told Euractiv. "We will not dominate the market, but first-generation biofuels are desperately needed to complement the new fuels and other measures." And biofuels could provide additional income for agricultural companies, according to Pesonen. "That is a welcome addition for many farmers in the current economic climate."
The maximum admixture percentage is set to avoid competition between fuel and food. A link between food prices and biofuels is, according to a recent study not established by the Commission.
Electrification only in the long term
Criticism is not only heard from an agricultural angle. There are also concerns in the logistics sector. This sector accounts for about 27% of the EU's greenhouse gas emissions. In the long term, electrification of transport offers good opportunities for sustainability. But European policymakers also admit that in 2030 oil will remain by far the most important fuel for the logistics sector.
In the Red concept proposal, 2030% of the fuel in logistics must consist of renewable sources by 26. Because biofuel is suitable for conventional trucks, it must certainly be included as a (temporary) solution in the plans for 2030, according to various stakeholders.
Jurphaas Lugtenburg
© DCA Market Intelligence. This market information is subject to copyright. It is not permitted to reproduce, distribute, disseminate or make the content available to third parties for compensation, in any form, without the express written permission of DCA Market Intelligence.