Briefing

Draft 2030 biofuels proposal: a brief impact assessment

November 22, 2016

Last July, the European Commission’s Strategy for Low Emission Mobility promised a ‘phaseout of food-based biofuels’. However, this promise of a phase-out is not visible in Annex X of a leaked draft proposal of the Renewable Energy Directive (RED).

The leak points to the Commission’s intention to keep 3.8% of 1G biofuels in transport fuels in 2030. This is only 1.1 percentage point less than the 4.9% share of 1G biofuels in transport in 2014. In this briefing T&E analyses: how much would the Commission’s draft proposal increase EU transport greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the 2021-2030 period compared to a ‘proper’ phase-out of 1G biofuels?; how much underestimation of EU transport GHG emissions in the 2021-2030 period would the draft proposal lead to – as a result of the zero-counting of biofuels – compared to a ‘proper’ phase-out of 1G fuels?

In this briefing T&E analyses:

1. How much would the Commission’s draft proposal increase EU transport greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the 2021-2030 period compared to a ‘proper’ phase-out of 1G biofuels?;

2. How much underestimation of EU transport GHG emissions in the 2021-2030 period would the draft proposal lead to – as a result of the zero-counting of biofuels – compared to a ‘proper’ phase-out of 1G fuels?

Related Articles

View All
Press Release

Ambitious Car CO2 standards more important than ever after lawmakers vote to weaken 2040 target

EU lawmakers vote in favour of a watered-down 2040 emissions reduction target of 85% and a a one-year delay to ETS2

Opinion

Europe’s affordable car project needs to put the Va Va Voom into small EVs

The EU’s ‘small affordable car initiative’ could benefit consumers and the domestic car industry without compromising on safety and emissions savings.

Press Release

New analysis debunks the assumption that air passenger growth drives economic growth

Industry claims, often echoed by governments to justify airport expansion, that more flights benefit the economy, undermined by new research.