Norway proposes biofuel mandate changes

The Norwegian Environment Agency (NEA) has proposed an increase in the amount of waste and advanced biofuels used in road and off-road transport from 1 July following public consultation.

But the overall biofuels mandate for road fuels will fall as part of the proposals, from 24.5pc to 17pc by volume.

The sub-mandate for waste and advanced biofuels for road use, comprising biofuels utilising feedstocks from Annex IX part A and B of the EU's Renewable Fuel Energy directive (RED II) and currently capped at 9pc, will increase to 12.5pc under the proposals.

Double counting for waste and advanced biofuels will no longer be accepted towards the overall target under the new proposals, except when the 12.5pc sub-mandate has been exceeded. Previously, while double counting did not apply to meeting the Annex IX sub-mandate, waste and advanced biofuels could be double counted to meet the overall target irrespectively.

This could raise the actual volume of biofuels within the road fuel mix to around 17pc, from a maximum of 15.5pc currently, because of the abolition of double counting, the NEA told Argus.

Currently, the Norwegian road fuel biofuel mandate allows for the double counting of waste and advanced biofuels and was originally scheduled to increase this year from 24.5pc to 25.1pc.

The aviation sector was not considered as part of the consultation. But the NEA is carrying out an assessment for a possible increase in the aviation biofuel mandate for 2023 and 2024, with public consultation likely later this year.

Earlier this week the EU proposed non-legislative measures to tackle current volatility in agriculture markets, including support for member states choose to reduce the blending proportion of biofuels with this mainly directed toward lower reliance on crop-based biofuels in order to preserve agricultural land for the growth of food for crops rather than fuel.

Norway, while not an EU member state, chooses to follow the directives outlined in RED II.

For off-road mobile machinery, such as agricultural and construction equipment, two proposals were put forward, one outlining up to 6pc of waste and advanced biofuels and another with up to 10pc.

By Thomas Hughes