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EU - Policy

POLICY

The European Commission is supporting biofuels as it is keen to reduce the growing level of imported energy dependence and also help achieve its Kyoto Agreement of Greenhouse Gas reductions.

The EU Biofuels Directive (BD; Directive 2003/30/EC) is part of a wide range of measures the EU has created to promote sustainable development, and in particular to tackle rising greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from transport.  The Directive aims to promote the use of biofuels within the EU, establishing a minimum level of biofuels as a proportion of road fuels sold, starting with 2% in 2005 and reaching 5.75% of fuels sold in 2010, with the targets based on energy value, (for more information: click here). 

Member states are required to set indicative targets for each stage, and for 2005 a large majority of member states did not reach their targets.  The targets set so far are not compulsory for member states to meet; this led to the Commission issuing a new mandatory target of 10% (by renewable energy) to be reached by all EU member states by 2020.  The EU Commission energy policy plan also aims that 20% of energy used in the EU comes from renewable energy sources.  An overall objective of the EU Commission is that EU greenhouse gas emissions be cut 20% by 2020 from 1990 levels. For more detail see the Renewable Energy Directive (RED; Directive 2009/28/EC).    

The most commonly used biofuels in the EU are: 1) biodiesel made from soya beans and oilseeds; 2) bioethanol made from cereals or sugar containing plants (such as sugar beet and cane) and blended with petrol. However, interest is also growing in the use of biomethane produced from Anaerobic Digestion (AD) of biomass (see our biofuels facts and figures page here).

The Fuel Quality Directive (FQD; Directive 2009/30/EC) states that the European Community is committed to a 20% reduction in GHGs from 1990 levels by 2020 and that it will meet a 30% GHG reduction from 1990 levels by 2020 if a global GHG emissions savings agreement can be made. Part of the proposed GHG savings will be met by the reduction of emissions by fuel suppliers. The FQD states that GHG emissions savings of up to 10% per unit energy (by 2020) from fuel and energy supplied should arise from: 1) fossil fuels 6% (this is mandatory); 2) carbon capture and storage (CCS) 2% (voluntary); 3) credits purchased under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto protocol 2% (voluntary).

           BD                                  RED                                   FQD