Use of renewable fuels in transport in Europe

Assessment versions

Published (reviewed and quality assured)

• No published assessments

Rationale

Justification for indicator selection

EU legislation has set requirements for the share of renewable energy sources in transport by 2020. This indicator has, therefore, been selected to follow relevant policy issues by monitoring the progress achieved.

The promotion of renewable energy is essential for the reduction of greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide.

Scientific references

• No rationale references available

Indicator definition

A ratio is used to determine the share of renewable energy in transport consumption (RES-T) of a Member State. Article 3 (4) of the RES Directive defines this ratio.

The denominator of the ratio is the total amount of energy consumed in transport. This is calculated using only petrol, diesel, biofuels consumed in road and rail transport, and electricity.

The numerator of the ratio is the amount of energy from renewable sources consumed in transport. All types of energy from renewable sources consumed in all forms of transport are considered.

To calculate the numerator and the denominator of the share of RES-T, the amount of electricity produced from renewable sources and consumed in all types of electric vehicle is used. Member States may use either the average share of electricity from renewable sources in the Community, or the share of electricity from renewable energy sources in their own country, measured 2 years before the year in question. Furthermore, to calculate the amount of electricity from renewable energy sources consumed by electric road vehicles, a figure for consumption of 2.5 times the energy content of the electricity input from renewable sources is used.

Units

Final energy consumption of biofuels, petrol and diesel, and electricity for transport are measured in kilotonnes of oil equivalent (ktoe). The decision to use ktoe as the main calculation unit was made because of the choice of reporting units in the Template for Member State progress reports under Directive 2009/28/EC.

Policy context and targets

Context description

In April 2009, Directive 2009/30/EC was adopted, which revised the Fuel Quality Directive [Directive 98/70/EC]. It amends a number of elements of petrol and diesel specifications, as well as introducing, in Article 7a, a requirement that fuel suppliers reduce the greenhouse gas intensity of energy supplied for road transport (Low Carbon Fuel Standard). Fuel suppliers must reduce emissions by 6-10 % by 2020 (relative to 2010 fossil fuels). In addition, the Directive establishes sustainability criteria that must be met by biofuels if they are to count towards the greenhouse gas intensity reduction obligation. 

The EU Biofuels Directive has created a legislative framework in EU Member States and has therefore triggered rapid market availability of biofuels. In 2010, the share of biofuels in the EU-28 was 5.2 % of all petrol and diesel sold for transport purposes. This was still somewhat below the original 5.75 % policy objective, under Directive 2003/30/EC, to be achieved by the end of 2010. These targets were subsequently revised following the adoption of Directive 2009/28/EC — which was subsequently amended in 2013 and again in 2015 — on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources (repealing two previous Directives). The revision sees the share of renewable energy to be used in transport rising to a minimum of 10 % in every Member State by 2020. The new directive on renewable energy also aims to ensure that only sustainable biofuels that generate a clear and net greenhouse gas saving and have no negative impact on biodiversity and land use are used in the EU. Only biofuels that comply with the sustainability criteria under the Renewable Energy Directive are to be counted towards this target and, therefore, proper monitoring is only possible from 2010. In addition, to stimulate the growth of certain shares of renewable energy sources in transport, renewable electricity in electric road vehicles is considered to be 2.5 times the energy content of the electricity input from renewable energy sources. Similarly, the contribution of biofuels produced from wastes, residues, non-food cellulosic material, and ligno-cellulosic material is considered to be twice that of other biofuels. Nevertheless, the 10 % target is expected to be met primarily through biofuels. Also, each Member State shall seek to achieve a minimum level of biofuel consumption, taking effect from April 2017. A reference value for this target is a 0.5 percentage point growth in the share of energy from renewable sources in all forms of transport by 2020, to be met with biofuels produced in feedstocks and other fuels listed in part A of Annex IX.

Member States are required to report to the Commission annually on:

• the measures taken to promote the use of biofuels or other renewable fuels to replace diesel or petrol for transport purposes;
• the national resources allocated to the production of biomass for energy uses other than transport; and 
• the total sales of transport fuel and the share of biofuels, pure or blended, and other renewable fuels placed on the market for the preceding year.

Targets

The RED (2009/28/EC) set a target for all Member States of a 10 % share of renewable energy in transport by 2020.

On 14 June 2018, the Commission, the Parliament and the Council reached a political agreement for which Member states must require fuel suppliers to supply a minimum of 14 % of the energy consumed in road and rail transport by 2030 as renewable energy. In addition, the share of advanced biofuels and biogas must be at least 1 % in 2025 and at least 3.5 % in 2030.

The White Paper (EC, 2011) provides objectives for decarbonising transport fuels in aviation and shipping: 'Low carbon sustainable fuels in aviation to reach 40 % by 2050; also by 2050 reduce emissions from maritime bunker fuels by 40 % (if feasible 50 %) compared to 2005 levels.' In both sectors, it is anticipated that the majority of these targets would need to be met through the utilisation of sustainable biofuels.

Related policy documents

• DIRECTIVE 2001/77/EC Renewable electricity
  Directive 2001/77/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 September 2001 on the promotion of electricity produced from renewable energy sources in the internal electricity market
• Directive 2003/30/EC, use of biofuels and renewable fuels
  Promotion of the use of biofuels and other renewable fuels for transport. Directive 2003/30/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 May 2003 on the promotion of the use of biofuels and other renewable fuels for transport.
• DIRECTIVE 2009/28/EC
  DIRECTIVE 2009/28/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 23 April 2009 on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources and amending and subsequently repealing Directives 2001/77/EC and 2003/30/EC
• Regulation (EC) No 1099/2008 on energy statistics
  Regulation (EC) No 1099/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2008 on energy statistics (OJ 2008 L 304, p. 1).

Methodology

Methodology for indicator calculation

The share of renewable energy sources in transport is calculated by dividing renewable energy consumption by total energy consumption, including that of petrol and diesel.

The ratio determining a Member State’s RES-T share is defined in Article 3 (4) of the RES Directive. To calculate the denominator of the ratio, the consumption of petrol and diesel for transport, biofuels used in road and rail transport, and electricity used in any mode of transport are taken into account. For the numerator, compliant biofuels (liquid and gaseous) used in all modes of transport, and employing the respective multipliers where applicable (2x renewable electricity in transport and 2.5x for road transport as defined in Article 21(2)), plus hydrogen of renewable origin in all modes of transport and other forms of renewable energy consumed in the transport sector are also taken into account.

Methodology for gap filling

No gap-filling is applied. 

Methodology references

• SHARES Tool Manual Shares Tool Manual: Describes the Shares Tool that is designed to collect and present the information – the energy data – that is needed for the calculations as defined in Article 3 (transport sector) and Article 5 (overall target) of the Directive. 

Data specifications

EEA data references

• No datasets have been specified here.

External data references

• Share of energy from renewable sources

Data sources in latest figures

Uncertainties

Methodology uncertainty

No uncertainty has been specified.

Data sets uncertainty

The data are collected on an annual basis by the European Commission and can be considered reliable and accurate. The requirement for data collection for low- and zero-sulphur fuels and biofuels is mandatory, and the results are harmonised at the EU level.

Rationale uncertainty

No uncertainty has been specified.

Work description

Resource needs

Budgetary, technical, resource or scientific needs: In order to improve the quality of the indicator, further technical (in particularly data) resources on non-road transport are needed.

Status

Deadline