EU Parliament vote on RED II puts ILUC debate to rest
January 17, 2018
BY The EU Biodiesel Chain
The EU Parliament plenary vote Jan. 17 on the post-2020 EU Renewable Energy Directive (RED II) rebalanced an initially negative Environment Committee report, and represents a step in the right direction for the Industry, Research and Energy Committee (ITRE) rapporteur to negotiate with the European Commission and the Energy Council in the upcoming trialogue negotiations.
The EU Biodiesel Chain underlines the fact that, as in the Energy Council position, the Parliament decided not to reopen the indirect land use change (ILUC) debate, which was settled in 2015.
Advertisement
Parliament’s vote on a 12 percent renewables binding target is also a step in the right direction, although not matching the 14 percent target agreed by the Energy Council.
Additionally, the Parliament decision to limit the contribution of crop-based biofuels to current consumption levels in each member state does not recognize their key role in the decarbonization of the EU energy mix. This approach does not support the EU agriculture and protein sectors nor respond to COP21 climate ambitions. Going forward into trialogues, maintaining the 7 percent share for crop-based biofuels, and including them in the incorporation obligation, is therefore vital.
Advertisement
“Today’s Parliament position recognizes that the ILUC debate is over,” said Raffaello Garofalo, secretary general of the European Biodiesel Board, on behalf of the EU Biodiesel Chain. “Now, in the trialogue negotiations we expect a realistic and fact-based discussion to raise further the EU decarbonization ambitions in the transport sector and secure a role for the EU biodiesel industry. A clear mandate for operators including a 7 percent crop-based biofuels—as proposed by the council—is a necessity in this sense.”
The EU Biodiesel Chain includes the European Oilseed Alliance, Fediol and the European Biodiesel Board.
Related Stories
The Oregon DEQ has confirmed that the 2024 annual report deadline for the state’s Clean Fuels Program will be delayed until May 30 due to a cyberattack the resulted in an extended outage of the Oregon Fuels Reporting System.
Legislation currently under consideration by the New York legislature aims to establish a clean fuel standard (CFS) that would reduce the greenhouse gas (GHG) intensity from on-road transportation by 20% by 2033.
On April 23, the Advanced Biofuels Association (ABFA) met with officials in the U.S. EPA to convey the vital importance of domestic biofuel production to the Trump-Vance administration’s energy dominance policy agenda.
Aemetis Inc. on April 23 announced that its subsidiary in India, Universal Biofuels, has been working with the U.S. government to support the success of American interests in India. U.S. Consul General Jennifer Larson recently toured the facility.
CARB on April 4 released a third set of proposed changes to the state’s LCFS. More than 80 public comments were filed ahead of an April 21 deadline, including those filed by representatives of the ethanol, biobased diesel and biogas industries.
Upcoming Events
