EC proposing logistics rescue plan for Ukraine

IN BRIEF

GERMANY: The government’s environment ministry is working on a proposal to phase out the use of biofuels produced from food and feed crops by 2030, Argus Media wrote on 17 May.

A working paper released by the ministry proposed lowering the use of cropbased biofuels to comply with Germany’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction quota to 2.5% in 2023, from 4.4% this year.

The cap would subsequently fall to 2.3% in 2024, 2.1% in 2025, 1.9% in 2026/27, 1.2% in 2028/29 and then to zero the following year. To offset the reduction, the working paper suggested increasing the multiplier for electricity used to charge e-cars to four, from three currently, and the multiplier for the use of green hydrogen and PtX-fuels to three, from two.

In addition, the cap for waste-based biodiesel produced from used cooking oils (UCO) and animal fats could be lifted slightly, but no numbers were given in the working paper.

The proposals were criticised by German biofuels association VDB, which said a reduction of the proportion of biofuels was not needed as ethanol producers generally used grain that was unsuitable for the food sector, and biodiesel producers had already cut back their production in favour of food production.

PANAMA: Bioenergy products development firm SGP BioEnergy said on 18 May that it is set to develop a hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) facility in Panama. Due to become operational in five years, the Biorefineria Ciudad Dorada plant in Colon and Balboa would produce 180,000 barrels/day of biofuel.

Vote to ban soya/palmbased biofuels by 2023

The European Parliament’s environment committee (ENVI) has voted to limit crop-based biofuels to no more than half the share of total biofuel use in transport and to phase out palm and soya-based biofuels by 2023, EU Bioenergy reported on 18 May.

The committee also voted for an amendment recommending that primary woody biomass should no longer be subsidised and should largely be excluded from counting towards renewable energy targets, the report said.

The ENVI committee made the announcements on 16 May as part of its revision of the Renewable Energy Directive (RED).

The EU Parliament’s ITRE (energy) committee will also propose its own amendments to the RED this month. Any proposed amendments by the ENVI and ITRE would have to be approved by the Parliament’s plenary after the summer break, EU Bioenergy said.

Meanwhile, the European Council was also considering amendments to the RED, with the final outcome of the trialogue process – where Parliament and Council need to agree a final compromise – expected late this year at the earliest.

One-fifth of European biofuels from UCO

Nearly one-fifth of all European biofuels is now made from used cooking oil (UCO), which has also witnessed the most absolute growth compared with any other biomass-based diesel feedstock in Europe and North America in the last few years, the ACI Oleofuels 2022 conference heard on 18-19 May in France.

Globally, 6.6M tonnes of UCO biofuels were consumed last year, representing 5% of the total biofuels market, Cornelius Claeys, manager (biofuels) at Stratas Advisors, said. “Alternative waste feedstocks and low carbon production pathways need to be scaled up,” he added.

In the medium to long-term, Claeys said he expected the Russia-Ukraine conflict to accelerate energy transition in the EU.

Thomas Balle, industry technology specialist at Novozymes, said EU legislation would drive demand of waste-based and advanced biodiesel.

Used cooking oil is now the feedstock for nearly a fifth of biofuels produced in Europe

Russia-Ukraine war stalls EU biofuels

Rising food and fuel costs, pushed up by the crisis in Ukraine, are pushing several EU countries to freeze or lower 2022-2023 low-carbon blending mandates for transportation fuels, according to Cornelius Claeys at Stratas Advisors, writing on energypost.eu on 23 May.

In Finland, the 2022 and 2023 blending obligations were reduced by 7.5 percentage points. Swedish lawmakers were consider freezing 2023 obligations at 2022 levels while in Norway, government discussions were ongoing to undertake similar measures.

“These Nordic countries can afford to reduce their blending mandates while still complying with EU directives,” Claeys wrote.

Germany and Belgium may reduce the allowed contribution of crop-based biofuels towards blending mandates, which would risk undercompliance with EU directives. Central and Eastern Europe would also risk under-compliance if they directly reduced blending mandates but some countries planned to do so anyway. “In the case of Croatia, penalties for fuel suppliers that do not meet obligations will be waived,” Claeys said.

If all the eight countries mentioned implemented their plans, there could be a reduction of up to 2bn litres of biofuel demand in 2023, ironically increasing fossil fuel demand, just as discussion was ongoing to ban EU imports of Russian oil and refined products by the end of the year.

The USA, in contrast, was strengthening biofuel incentives by allowing year-round E15 use, with a philosophy that a higher share of ethanol would reduce the price per gallon of gasoline.