Abstract

(Minor revisions 03/12/2021) Over Summer, the European Commission published thirteen legislative proposals to put the EU transport and energy sector on track towards reducing economy-wide emissions 55% by the end of the decade (compared to 1990), as set forth in the European Climate Law. The goal for renewables in gross EU energy consumption is raised to 40% by 2030, a significant increase compared to the old target of 32% by that year, and a doubling of the 2019 share. A paradigm shift in the new proposals is a clear move towards incentives based on emission accounting. This includes a few clauses most industry watchers had not anticipated, like the scrapping of the renewable energy in transport (RES-T) quota, the introduction of a single emission reduction obligation to all transport fuel suppliers and abandoning the established practice of double counting biofuels from waste-based feedstocks towards the obligations. More widely anticipated - but equally game changing - are alternative fuel blending obligations to the aviation and shipping sectors, inclusion of new transport segments in the EU emission trading system (ETS), tightened emission reduction obligations for new cars and vans, and minimum quota for e-fuels in transport. This article scrutinizes what the newly proposed laws imply for biofuels in each transport segment.

This paper will be part of the OGEL Special Issue on the "EU Fit for 55 Legislative Package". More information here www.ogel.org/news.asp?key=686