German government agrees draft biofuels law

The German government has agreed a draft law revising biofuels legislation in order to implement the EU's revised Renewable Energy Directive (RED II).

The draft allows for a rise in Germany's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction obligation from 6pc now to 6.5pc in 2022, 7pc in 2023, 8pc in 2024 and 10pc in 2026. In 2028 this will jump to 14.5pc and then to 22pc in 2030.

A blending quota for synthetic fuels in aviation — a power-to-liquids, or 'PtL quota' — will start at 0.5pc in 2026, rising to 1pc in 2028 and 2pc by 2030.

The energy share of crop-based biofuels will be capped at 4.4pc between 2022 and 2030, down from 6.5pc in 2020. An earlier plan to lower the crop-cap to 2.7pc by 2026 had sparked criticism from biofuels associations VDB, BDBe and Ufop.

The energy share of waste-based biofuels made from used cooking oil (UCO) or animal fats that can be counted towards the GHG quota will be limited to 1.9pc, and biofuels with high indirect land use change (Iluc) will have to be phased out by 2026.

The minimum energy share of advanced biofuels that are produced from feedstock such as straw or palm oil mill effluent (Pome), listed in Annex IX Part A of RED II, will increase to 0.2pc in 2022, 0.4pc in 2024, 0.7pc in 2025 and 2.6pc in 2030. Anything marketed above the minimum share will be eligible for double-counting. Electricity used to charge e-vehicles can be counted threefold towards the GHG quota, and green hydrogen and synthetic fuels produced by power-to-x technologies will be double-counted.

The new targets result in an overall share of renewables in transport of 28pc by 2030, well above the EU's 14pc target.

The draft is a "step in the right direction", according to VDB chief executive Elmar Baumann. He welcomed the increase of the GHG quota to 22pc by 2030, but said that the slow quota increase over the next five years, combined with the introduction of multipliers for electricity and hydrogen, is likely to remove first- and second-generation biofuels from the market.

German oil industry association MWV welcomed support for "green fuels" such as synthetic fuels and green hydrogen, but said that the new targets will only be achieved with significant investments in that sector.

The draft will be now passed on to the European Commission for approval and will then be voted on in the cabinet and Germany's parliament. RED II has to be implemented into German law by 30 June 2021.

By Sophie Barthel