European Directive 2003/30/EC
The European Directive 2003/30/EC of 8 May 2003 "on the promotion of the use of biofuels or other renewable fuels for transport" [1] lays the foundation for the promotion of alternative fuels in the EU. In particular, it specifies that Member States should ensure that a minimum share of biofuels and other renewable fuels is placed on the market, and, to that effect, shall set national indicative targets.
Reference values for these targets are given, as calculated on the basis of energy content, namely:
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2% of all gasoline and diesel for transport purposes placed on their markets by 31 December 2005;
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5.75% of all gasoline and diesel for transport purposes placed on their markets by 31st December 2010.
The Directive aims at increasing the share of renewable energy in the transportation sector (currently dominated almost entirely by fossil fuels) and reducing emissions of CO2 (carbon dioxide), CO (carbon monoxide), NOx (nitrogen oxides), VOC (volatile organic compounds) and other particles harmful to human health and the environment.
The different types of biofuels are as follows:
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bioethanol;
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biodiesel (diesel-quality methyl ester produced from from biomass or used frying oils and used as biofuel);
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biogas (fuel gas produced from biomass and/or waste by anaerobic fermentation, purified to natural gas quality);
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biomethanol
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biodimethylether
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bio-ETBE (ethyl-tertio-butyl-ether)
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bio-MTBE (methyl-tertio-butyl-ether)
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synthetic biofuels (synthetic hydrocarbons or mixtures of synthetic hydrocarbons produced from biomass)
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biohydrogen
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oil produced from oil plants by pressing, extraction or comparable procedures, crude or refined but chemically unmodified, when compatible with the type of engines involved and the corresponding emission requirements.
Biofuels may be made available in any of the following forms:
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as pure biofuels or at high concentration in oil derivatives, in accordance with quality standards for transport applications;
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as biofuels blended in mineral oil derivatives, in accordance with the appropriate European norms describing the technical specifications for transport fuels (EN 228 and EN 590);
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as liquids derived from biofuels, such as ETBE (resp. MTBE) where the percentage of biofuel is 47% vol. (resp. 36% vol.).
Before 1st July each year, Member States shall report to the Commission on (1) the measures taken to promote the use of biofuels or other renewable fuels to replace diesel or petrol for transport purposes, (2) the national resources allocated to the production of biomass for energy uses other than transport, and (3) the total sales of transport fuel and the share of biofuels, pure or blended, and other renewable fuels placed on the market for the preceding year. All the reports submitted to the Commission so far [2] are available on the Commission's website.
On 10 January 2007, the Commission submitted a progress report on the use of biofuels in EU Member States to the Council and the European Parliament [3]. In this report, the Commission states that the share of biofuels in 2005 did not exceed 1% (compared to 2% according to the original objectives of the European Directive 2003/30/EC). It also concludes that the target of 5.75% biofuels by 2010 will most likely not be reached and believes (based on the policy and existing measures) that the penetration of biofuels in 2010 to 4%. The Commission will soon decide on new legal proposals that are needed.
The Biomass Action Plan
To cope with the increasing dependence on imported energy, the European Union (EU) must bring into play a new energy policy, the three main objectives of which are competitiveness, sustainable development and security of supply. It is in this wider context of an integrated and coherent energy policy and, in particular, of promoting renewable energy sources that the Commission is presenting this Biomass Action Plan [4].
The Biomass Action Plan identifies three sectors in which the use of biomass should be prioritized, namely heat production, electricity production and transport. In the transportation sector, the Biomass Action Plan sets out the objectives of biofuels introduction, i.e. 5.75% in 2010 (according to the European Directive 2003/30/EC on the promotion of biofuels), and 10% in 2020.
In terms of balancing domestic production and imports of biofuels, the Commission's approach is to:
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propose the amendment of standard EN 14214 to facilitate the use of a broader range of vegetable oils for biodiesel, to the extent feasible without significant ill-effects on fuel performance (the current standard indeed limiting the commercialization of biodiesel in the EU to rape methyl ester);
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address the issue of amending the biofuels directive (Directive 2003/30/EC) so that only biofuels whose cultivation complies with minimum sustainability standards count towards its targets;
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maintain market access conditions for imported bioethanol in conformity with trade agreements currently in force;
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pursue a balanced approach in ongoing free trade agreement negotiations with ethanol-producing countries/regions;
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support developing countries that wish to produce biofuels and develop their domestic markets;
In terms of standards, the Commission is currently re-examining two areas of the fuel quality directive (Directive 98/70/EC), namely (1) the impact on health and the environment, (2) the impact on the achievement of the objectives in the biofuels directive and (3) the cost of achieving them. The Commission also plans to remove unjustified or discriminatory technical barriers to using biofuels. Lastly, as Europe is better at producing bioethanol than biodiesel, the Commission will encourage the use of ethanol (in place of methanol) to reduce demand for diesel.
The results of the public consultation of the Biomass Action Plan [5] can be found on the Commission's website.
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