The Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety adopted the recommendation for second reading, contained in the report by Nils TORVALDS (ADLE, FI), on the Council position at first reading with a view to the adoption of a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 98/70/EC relating to the quality of petrol and diesel fuels and amending Directive 2009/28/EC on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources.
The parliamentary committee recommended that Parliament amend the Council's first reading position. The key amendments relate to the following questions:
Capping of conventional biofuels: directive 2009/28/EC on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources establishes a mandatory target to achieve by 2020 a 10% share for renewable energy in the transport sector.
According to the Members, the share of energy from biofuels produced from cereal and other starch-rich crops, sugars and oil crops and other energy crops grown on land should be no more than 6% of the final consumption of energy in transport in the Member States in 2020 (as opposed to 7% in the Council position), thereby directly contributing to the achievement of the objectives of Directives 2009/28/EC et 98/70/EC.
In addition, advanced biofuels, produced from algae or certain types of waste, should represent at least 1.25% of energy consumption in the transport sector by 2020. The objective proposed by the Council is only non-binding and is based on a lower reference level (0.5%).
By 2020, the share of energy from renewable sources in petrol should be at least equal to 6.5% of the final petrol consumption in each Member State.
Supplementary measures: Members demanded that by one year after the date of entry into force of the Directive, the Commission should make recommendations for additional measures that Member States may take to promote and encourage energy efficiency and energy saving in transport.
In order to achieve the objective set by Directive 2009/28/EC, Member States should reduce overall energy consumption in the transport sector so as to increase energy efficiency in that sector by at least 12% with respect to their current projections for overall energy consumption in the transport sector by 2020.
Sustainability criteria for biofuels and bioliquids: Members suggested that the Commission should assess the possibility of setting out criteria for the identification and certification of biofuels and bioliquids that are produced within schemes which reduce the displacement of production for purposes other than making biofuels and bioliquids, and in accordance with the appropriate sustainability criteria.
Indirect land-use change (ILUC) factors: Members called for account to be taken of the consequences of indirect change in the allocation of soils (CASI) for greenhouse gas emissions and to adopt appropriate measures to remedy these consequences. Nevertheless, a thorough review of the methodology for estimating land-use change emission factors in the light of adaptation to technical and scientific progress is needed.
Members also deleted the new concept of “low-ILUC risk biofuels” introduced in the Council position.
Drawing up a post-2020 policy: Members demanded that the Commission should undertake a review of the Union's biofuels legislation, considering different policy options and the cost-effectiveness of the current policy of subsidies versus the promotion of investment in research in innovative renewable fuels.
That review should include an analysis of the role of sustainable biofuels, also in a post-2020 context, with regard to, inter alia, the availability of feedstocks, indirect land-use change, air quality including the impact on human health, and energy dependency.