The Brazilian Sugarcane Industry Association (UNICA) welcomes the decision reached by the EU Energy Ministers on December 18 to set a Member State binding target of renewable energy in the transport sector of 14 percent by 2030. Although the actual target should be closer to 20 percent in order to achieve the long-term goal of a 60 percent emissions reduction in transport, the binding target is a much-needed step to ensure a level of Member State commitment and responsibility.
The Council’s choice to maintain the 7 percent cap on conventional biofuels “to provide certainty to investors” is critically important and gives Member States the possibility to meet their targets by using sustainable biofuels that are available now, such as Brazilian sugarcane ethanol.
According to UNICA, the text correctly preserves the option to distinguish between biofuels based on their indirect land use change (ILUC) effect, giving fuels with a low ILUC impact a bigger role in the EU’s transport energy mix. Brazilian sugarcane ethanol reduces greenhouse (GHG) emissions by more than 50 percent compared to fossil fuels, even when ILUC is taken into account.
However, UNICA is disappointed with the loopholes in the text, which lower the EU’s ambition to reduce GHG emissions. The Council moved to permit Member States to lower the overall transport target for renewables if they decide to decrease the national cap on first-generation biofuels. This effectively allows Member States to “dodge” higher, binding targets that are essential to mitigate climate change.
Furthermore, UNICA points out that the ambition to promote biofuels is compromised. The text sets a sub-target of 3 percent for advanced biofuels in the transport sector with an intermediate binding milestone of 1 percent in 2025. While this gives more time for investors to scale up advanced technologies, the permitted double-counting is ineffective at helping to reduce GHG emissions from transport by 2030.
This, combined with the multiplier of 5x for renewable electricity used in road transport, is “just an accounting trick “at the cost of the climate. A better way to incentivise sustainable biofuels is to deploy those that significantly reduce GHG emissions.
It is encouraging to see that Member States recognise the importance of renewables in the transport sector by including a binding target. Conventional biofuels with significant GHG savings already contribute to the decarbonisation of transports and the Member States understood their role. In Brazil, the widespread deployment of sugarcane ethanol has resulted in reducing transport emissions by 370 million tonnes of CO2eq in just 13 years. We urge Member States to apply a similar level of ambition when negotiating with the European Parliament in the New Year, commented Dr Géraldine Kutas, UNICA’s Head of International Affairs.
