Renewable energies in the EU transport sector
What the latest data from the EUCommission tell us
From 2015 to 2020, the energyconsumption in the roadtransportation increased by a total of 7 percent.
Fossil fuels havehave the transportationsector with a share of 94 percent remains firmly under control. The rest are biofuels with 5,6 percent and renewable electricity with 0,4 percent. Three quarters of the additional energy requirements during this period were met by Fossil fuels covered. 98 percent of the growth in renewable energies was biofuels.
While the EUCommission estimates a figure of 8.88 percent for renewable energy in the transport sector in 2019, this is not the true figure as it includes around 8.2 million tons of fossil fuels that are classified as renewable energy under the Renewable Energy Directive’s multiplier loophole. The true share of renewable energies is a more modest 6.3 percent.
This means that a considerable proportion of what is stated as renewable energy in transport and is actually consumed is in fact renewable energy. fossiler fuel. From a reporting perspective, it is crucial that the Commission stops, fossile fuels in their overall figures for renewable energies in the transport sector, as these have a strongly distorting effect.
Policymakers are called upon to better combat fraud in the countries of origin, especially of used cookingoilfuels, spend. It should report the biomass types and origin of plant-based biofuels, especially in the case of palmoilfuels and it should report the biomass types and origins for advanced biofuels so that policy makers can track and modulate the impact of its regulation.
Even if 8 million tons fossile fuels are counted as renewable and one or two million tons fuels from palm oil are labeled as UCO, the data shows that the growth of total transport energy has been twice as fast as the growth of renewable energy over the last five years. If you draw the questionable fossil fuel outperforms the growth of fossil fuels the renewable fuels by a factor of three to one during this period.
For the year 2030, the European Commission has set a target of 24 percent of renewable energies for the transport sector and a similar level of carbon emissions reduction. Nevertheless, it is difficult to see how current trends can be changed so radically. Massive measures must be taken to support the use of renewable electricity. PalmoilBiodiesel and UCO fraud must be brought under control. Multipliers should be abolished, as they are merely another form of distraction from climate protection measures, while the policy and behavior of the member states which fossil fuelsf shares distort. The reforms of the 2015 European Tax Directive should be adopted, and soon. Biogas – the sleeping beauty of European renewables – must be drastically expanded.
The EU must promote the contribution of sustainable European biofuels, which could easily double by 2030. Positive political measures should be taken to make this possible. If something should be capped, then it is the fossile fuelconsumption, not the sustainable European biofuels.
AN OBSERVATION
In December 2020, the European Commission published its latest data[i] for transport energy and renewable energy in Europe, as reported to it by the member states for 2019 under the Renewable Energy Directive. Eurostat has examined the data and presents its findings here.
Steady increase in energy demand in transportation, half of which is renewable
According to EUROSTAT data, energy demand in the transport sector will increase by a total of 7 percent with an increase of almost 1 percent in the year 2019. The number of vehicles grew at a similar rate[i], with the fleet size in the EU increasing by around three million cars and trucks per year. with an internal combustion engine increased.
Fossil fuels holds the sector with a share of 94 percent still firmly under control. The remainder is made up of biofuels with 5.6 percent and renewable electricity with 0,4 percent together. Three quarters of the additional energy demand during this period was met by fossile fuels covered. The trend towards renewable energies is improving somewhat: in 2019, the proportion of additional energy demand generated by Fossil fuels is covered, to 45 percent The rest comes from additional renewable energies. Almost all (>98 percent) of the additional renewable energies in 2019 were additional biofuels, the rest was renewable electricity.
Fossil fuels is treated as renewable under the RED multiplier rules
The RED method for adding renewable energies in the transport sector includes significant quantities of fossil fuels in the figures, which leads to a certain distortion in the figures. reporting. So while the Commission arrived at a figure of 8.88 percent for renewable energy in transport in 2019, this is not the true amount, as it is about 8.2 million tons of fossile fuels that are classified as renewable under the directive’s multiplier loophole. The true share of renewable energies is a more modest 6.3 percent.
The multiplier rule allows some renewable energies to be counted by two or more times their actual values when adding up the total figure in order to incentivize their development. This means that the actual consumption of renewable energies is not shown.
The distortion is increasing from year to year: the proportion of fossil Fossil fuels of renewable energies reported by the Commission rose to almost 30 percent in 2019. percent compared to 19 percent five years ago.
In fact, the growth of what the Commission classifies as renewable fossile fuelsin 2019 was greater than the growth in actual renewable energy during this period. Fossil fuelswhich is classified by DG Energy* as renewable, for example, grew 70 times faster than actual renewable electricity.
Some countries rely more on this practice than others. In the United Kingdom, for example, 45 percent of the renewable energy in transport that it reported under the Brussels rules for 2019 to fossil fuels. The country increased its consumption of multi-counted Biodiesel from used cookingoil by 55 percent compared to the previous year. For every 1.1 billion liters of UCO that the UK put into its diesel, it declared a corresponding liter of fossil fuel as renewable.
Is the expansion of fuels from usedfat legitimate?
Used cooking oil (UCO) biodiesel is by far the largest example of multi-counted energy, and far from being a niche product. UCO it has become a dominant element over the distorting effects of multipliers.
According to the data, biodiesel from used cooking oil is in the EU last year by 35 percent grown. SSince 2014 by an average of 44 percent per year. Consumption in 2019 reached
4.1 billion liters, compared to 517 million liters in 2014. While the United Kingdom, Germany and the Netherlands 65 percent of total UCO demand in 2019, France, Ireland, Portugal and Spain together accounted for a further 20 percent. percent. Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta and the Netherlands were the largest per capita consumers of UCO diesel in 2019, with Ireland at 38 liters per person and Luxembourg at 60 liters per person. liters per capita. These are big numbers when you consider that a country with a mature UCO collection infrastructure has at most 4 to 5 liters per year domestically, while most countries in the world collect less than than 1 liter per person, or often none at all.
The majority of EU member states saw a strong increase in UCO usage last year, with the UK, Sweden, Spain, Ireland, Slovenia, Slovakia, the Netherlands, Hungary, France, the Czech Republic and Croatia all participating in rapid expansion. Only in Germany did UCO consumption buck the trend, falling by 23 percent against the trend.
The total amount of UCO used for biodiesel in the EU in 2019 was four times higher than the amount used in the domestic market in European gastronomy. The majority of it is therefore imported from countries where Europe has no powers to investigate or prosecute operators who engage in the fraudulent replacement of UCO with cheaper and readily available palm oil.oil in loose form. DG Energy allows any biodiesel declared as UCO to be considered UCO in the sense of the REDII Directive without the need for physical audits or inspections of supply chains and without any form of supply chain risk assessment. UCO fraud is financially rewarding, easy to commit and largely free from interference by the authorities. The UCO scam represents a huge missed opportunity for the European agricultural sector, which produces highly sustainable and effective biofuels and has the capacity to produce more under a smart and fair regulatory system.
DG Energy does not publish data on the country of origin of the UCO used as biodiesel is consumed under the Renewable Energy Directive[i]. This data should be made available by law and could be published. It would allow stakeholders to identify and assess situations where countries are listed as sources of UCO in quantities greater than their UCO collection infrastructure would allow in reality.
To give an example: Malaysia is not only the world’s second largest producer of palmoil for biodieselbut also an important supplier of UCO for the European biodiesel industry. The UK and Ireland publish[i] – in contrast to DG Energy – the countries of origin of the biofuels they consume. Malaysia was the source of 90 million liters of UCO used in the UK and Ireland in 2019. If Malaysia is the source of similar volumes for the rest of Europe, then its total contribution to EU UCO demand is six or eight times its capacity for genuine UCO collection. The implications are clear: with weak regulation, the UCO gold rush is probably as much about Biodiesel from palm oil, like real UCO. Wome British, Irish and other EU consumers are unknowingly using Paloil in their diesel vehicles vehicles, instead of genuine used cookingoil to burn it.
Advanced biofuels
The volume of advanced biofuels in the renewable energy mix rose by around 17% in 2019. percent to just over one million tons fossile fuels equivalent and thus contributed 0.3 percent to transportation energy in Europe and 5.3 percent to renewable energy in this sector. In absolute terms, the growth of advanced biofuels in 2019 was around seven times greater than the growth of renewable electricity, but it was three times lower than the growth of plant-based biofuels, five times lower than that of UCO and eight times lower than that of the fossiln fuelswhich is counted as renewable by DG Energy as part of the multiplier gap.
Advanced biofuels are made from materials included in a list compiled by DG Energy – broadly termed industrial and agricultural residues and by-products – and have been heavily promoted by DG Energy over the last decade. Apart from the fact that, like UCO, they are counted twice, there is an obligation for the member states to reduce consumption to 1.75 % by 2030. Percent of energy demand in transportation, which corresponds to around six times the current average values. DG Energy has also provided around half a billion euros in funding for the sector over the last ten years, particularly for the production of biofuels from materials such as straw, although the results have so far only appeared to a limited extent in Eurostat data.
Over 90 percent of advanced biofuels are consumed in just five member states: Finland (36%), Sweden (23%), Great Britain (21%), the Netherlands (8%) and France (4%). In fact, most member states use little or no advanced biofuels, which makes their 2030 targets quite challenging.
The total increase of 150.000 tons in 2019 was accounted for by Finland (45%), the Netherlands (30%) and Sweden (15%), although a slight increase was also recorded in France and Germany. Virtually all advanced biofuels in Europe come from just two of the seventeen types permitted by the Directive: Industrial waste and forestry waste, with industrial waste accounting for over 80 Percent make up. Industrial waste is a broad category and it would be helpful for policy makers if DG Energy were to report more precisely on which raw materials and countries of origin are involved.
Some Stakeholders are concerned that without a reform of the Commission’s regulatory responsibilities and procedures, the opportunities and incentives for fraud will increase, the The effects of the changes observed in UCO are being transferred to advanced biofuels as the sector grows, with operators seeking to circumvent the system both outside and within Europe.
Plant-based biofuels
According to the data, plant-based biofuels are the largest category by far, according to the of renewable energies in the EU transport system. Its share of total transportation energy has remained constant at 3.5 % over the last five years. percent and accounted for around 60 percent of all renewable energy. In terms of volume, plant-based biofuels grew by 3 percent and reached in the year 2019 over 11.5 million tons fossile fuels equivalent. The low growth of plant-based biofuels is due to the Commission’s decision to limit their role in renewable energy, even though in the case of domestic plant-based biofuels they are demonstrably better for the climate than increased use of fossiln fuelsnthe most cost-effective way to reduce carbon dioxide eemissions (CO 2 ) and could be expanded with considerable benefits for the rural economy and the food sector in Europe.
For such an important contribution to climate protection in transport, to economic development in rural areas and to the safety of protein animal feed, the data published by the Commission contains few details. There is no breakdown in the data to distinguish between domestically produced bioenergy and imports, or between the different types of biomass used.
It is critical to note that the Commission has not published any data on diesel from palmoil which it continues to allow under the legislation, despite the environmental damage and carbon dioxide emissionsemissions associated with the expansion of palmoil are connected. In fact, the Commission allows that low-cost palmoil competes directly with highly sustainable, domestic plant biofuels from traceable European agriculture. The lack of data on commodities and countries of origin is a serious omission as it obscures the situation and prevents policy makers from making accurate assessments.
Biogas in transport
Only 1.6 percent of renewable bioenergy in the EU transport system in 2019 was generated by biogas, which amounted to 279.0000 tons fossil fuel-Äequivalent or 0.1 percent of total transportation energy. Although starting from a low base, the development of biogas was positive. Mwith an annual increase of around 45 percent over the five-year period. According to the data, the seven countries involved were Sweden (39%), the United Kingdom (27%), Germany (20%) and the Netherlands (7%), with Denmark, Estonia and Finland together accounting for a further 6 percent together. In the case of the Netherlands, all transport biogas was supplied via the natural gas grid, while in the other six countries it was fed in directly. Italy also uses biogas in its transport system and has passed important legislation to promote biogas in transport, but has not yet provided consumption data to EUROSTAT.
Biogas is considered by many energy experts to be a very effective means of increasing the share of advanced biofuels as well as bioenergy and renewable energies in general. It can be easily produced from virtually any type of biomass and can be consumed directly as heat and electricity, distributed via the existing natural gas grid or converted into electricity and distributed via the power grid. However, a common EU certification system, harmonization of national support schemes for production and consumption and barrier-free cross-border access to these schemes would be necessary for greater dissemination. The current patchwork of incompatible national systems is a major obstacle to the development of the sector.
Electric cars
Renewable electricity in road transport made 2020 just 0,04 percent of transportation energy. This is an increase compared to 0.03 percent five years ago, but still a low base and a long way from making a significant contribution to the 10 percent-target for renewable energies in 2020. In terms of volume, renewable electricity on the road grew by the equivalent of 38% in 2019..000 tons fossiler fuels, or enough to replace the fossil energy of around one hundred thousand conventional cars. The total EU28 fleet grew 30-fold in the same period – around 3 million E-vehicles – suggesting that renewable electricity still has a long way to go to influence the trend of fossil energy consumption in this sector.
Overall, the share of electricity from renewable energies in the transport sector, including rail transport, over the five-year period to 2020 is around 0.6 percent of total transportation energy.
The data shows that renewable hydrogen and synthetic fuels have not yet made a contribution to the energy mix.
Outlook for 2030
From my view, it is crucial that the Commission stops, fossile fuels in their overall figures for renewable energies in the transport sector, as this has a highly distorting effect. In the interests of fraud prevention and better policy design, it should specify the countries of origin of biofuels, especially for used cooking oil.Oil use as fuel. It should report the biomass types and origin of plant-based biofuels, especially in the case of palmoil-dieseland it should report the biomass types and origins of advanced biofuels so that policy makers can track and modulate the impact of their regulation. The data should be published within three months of the end of the reporting period and not one year later, as is currently the case. In fact, the data should be published in quarterly cycles, as is the case in the UK.
Even if 8 million tons fossile fuels are counted as renewable and one of the two million tons of palmoil diesel may be labeled as UCO, the data shows that the growth of total transportation energy has been twice as fast as the growth of renewable energy over the last five years. If one takes into account the inappropriate fossil fuels, the growth of fossil fuels will outstrip that of renewable energies by a factor of three to one over this period.
To steer things in the right direction, the fossile fuel consumptionconsumption, which is currently not subject to any restrictions, in 2022 and, ideally, its share of transportation energy should be reduced by a mandatory percentage each year, even if it is only one or two percent.
For the year 2030, the European Commission has set a target of 24 percent renewable energies for the transport sector and a similar level of reduction in carbon dioxide emissionsemissions. However, it is not yet see how current trends can be changed so radically. Massive measures must be taken to increase the use of renewable energies.n fuels and electricity. The fraud with Palmoil-Biodiesel and UCO must be brought under control. Multipliers must should be abolished, as they are merely another form of distraction from climate protection measures and at the same time distort the policies and behavior of the member states. The reforms of the 2015 European Tax Directive should be adopted, namely immediately. Biogas and new biofuels – the sleepingn beautys of European renewables – mmust be drastically expanded. And to promote the contribution of sustainable European biofuels, which could easily double by 2030, positive policy measures should be taken to make this possible.
https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/energy/data/shares
https://www.acea.be/statistics/article/size-distribution-of-the-vehicle-fleet
https://www.ombudsman.europa.eu/en/case/en/57742
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/renewable-fuel-statistics-2019-final-report
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* https://ec.europa.eu/info/departments/energy_en