EU needs crop-based biofuels, end to multipliers: ePURE

Market: Biofuels
31/01/23

The European Renewable Ethanol Association (ePURE) has reiterated its stance on the need for crop-based biofuels and end to multipliers to meet the EU's emissions reduction targets, after legislative moves in Germany and the Netherlands.

Germany's environment ministry earlier this month said it plans to submit a draft law to ban the use of biofuels made from food and feed crops, and the Netherlands has said multipliers — such as the double counting principle — would be maintained for certain biofuels. The current EU cap on biofuels from food and feed crops stands at 7pc of total energy.

EPURE said these moves will result in greater use of fossil-based alternatives.

"The choice is clear: do we want real renewables such as sustainable biofuels that actually contribute to the fight against climate change, or artificial renewables – multipliers that exist only on paper and do nothing to reduce emissions," said ePURE director general David Carpintero. "Replacing crop-based biofuels with multipliers, as some in the German government want to do, only leaves the door open for more fossil fuels."

The EU's Renewable Energy Directive (RED II) has set targets for 2030 of a 14pc share of renewables for energy production within the transport sector by 2030. There is some way to go, according to Eurostat data released earlier this month that show the total share for renewables within the 27-nation bloc reached 9.1pc for 2021, down from 10.3pc in 2020.

At the nation state level, only Finland and Sweden are exceeding the 2030 RED II target on 20.5pc and 30.4pc respectively, with ePURE voicing concern at recent proposals to phase out crop-based biofuels and maintain multipliers — such as the principle in which certain biofuels utilising waste or advanced feedstocks as outlined in annex 9 of the directive can be counted twice toward a state's mandate targets — that could prevent the bloc from achieving its greenhouse has (GHG) reduction targets.

The data, from Eurostat's SHARES database, show that of the 9.1pc of renewable fuel used in transport, 42pc were from food and feed-crop feedstocks, constituting 3.75pc of the total energy pool including electricity, heating and cooling, while 23pc originated from annex 9 feedstocks, or 2.1pc of the total energy pool.

The lion's share of countries had less than a 1pc share of annex 9 fuels used in transport, including Belgium, France, Germany and Poland. Sweden (8pc), Spain (3pc), the Netherlands (5pc), Italy (4pc), and Bulgaria (4pc) all had over 1pc of annex 9 fuels in the total pool. Under current legislation, member states can decide their mandates for Annex 9 feedstocks, with every target for 2021 remaining under 1pc.

According to the statistics, the electricity sector showed a much higher share from renewable energy at 37.5pc, 7.6pc of which were from solid biofuels with main sources coming from hydro (32.1pc), wind (37.5pc) and solar (15.1pc).

Under current RED II legislation, the EU has a current target for the share of renewables for total energy production within the bloc to reach 32pc by 2030, but negotiators are now discussing new targets of 40-45pc by 2030.

By Thomas Hughes and Portia Kentish

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