Greenhouse gas emission intensity of fuels and biofuels for road transport in Europe

In 2023, the European Union reached its 2020 target to reduce greenhouse gas emission intensity of fuels sold for road transport to 6% below 2010 levels for the first time. Between 2010 and 2023, the emission intensity decreased by 6.3%, mostly because of the increased use of biofuels. Twelve countries have succeeded in reducing their emission intensities by at least 6%.

Figure 1. Average greenhouse gas intensity of road transport fuels in the EU, 2010-2023

Transport is responsible for more than a quarter of the European Union’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and a major contributor to climate change. Cutting GHG emissions from transport is pivotal to achieving the

To support a reduction in GHG emissions from transport, the set a target for fuel suppliers. They should reduce the emission intensity of fuels sold in the EU by 6% by 2020 and beyond, compared with 2010 levels. Relatively consistent reductions were achieved from 2018 to 2020, but then stagnated at 5.6% through 2022. In 2023, reductions reached and surpassed the 2020 target level at 6.3%.

The overall reduction in emission intensity of road transport fuels is mainly attributed to an increase in the use of biofuels. Biofuels have a lower emission intensity than fossil fuels. During this period, the share of biofuels in overall fuel sales grew from 4.5% to 7%. Furthermore, the emission intensity of biofuels has been falling since 2018. This is due to a small reduction in the use of oil-based crops such as palm oil and sunflower seed, which generally have a higher emission intensity than other feedstocks used for biofuel production.

It is important to ensure that rising demands for biofuels do not negatively impact land use by displacing the production of food and feed crops. The demand may also drive the conversion of land, such as forests and wetlands, to agricultural land leading indirectly to increased GHG emissions. This is known as indirect land use change (ILUC). The FQD requires that Member States identify the feedstock from which their biofuels originate and should estimate the emissions resulting from ILUC for certain feedstocks.

Emissions from ILUC are not considered when assessing compliance of the 6% 2020 reduction target. If ILUC is taken into account, the average GHG emission intensity of fuels consumed in 2023 is only 4.8% lower than in 2010. It has been declining since 2018 because of the reduced use of oil crops, which are substituted by sugars with lower GHG intensity.

Figure 2. Average greenhouse gas (GHG) intensity reduction of road transport fuels in Member States, between 2010-2023

Progress towards meeting the 6% reduction target varies widely across Member States. In 2023, 12 countries succeeded in decreasing their emission intensities by more than 6%. Sweden and Finland achieved the highest reductions (26.1% and 11.5% respectively) because their road transport fuel mixes have relatively high proportions of biofuels (29.4% and 14.3%). On average, the biofuels used have relatively low emission intensities (10g CO₂e/MJ, 15.8g CO₂e/MJ, respectively).

Between 2010 and 2023, Croatia (increased its GHG intensity by 0.4% with respect to 2010 EU average) and Latvia (0.4%) were the two Member States with the lowest reduction in emission intensities. Both countries have a low share of biofuels in their fuel mix (0% and 0.1%, respectively) and much higher biofuel emission intensities (38.2g CO₂e/MJ for Croatia and 20.4g CO₂e/MJ for Latvia).

The impact of ILUC on emission intensity reductions largely depends on the feedstocks used to produce biofuels. Oil crops, with the highest emission intensity among biofuel feedstocks, are used extensively in several Member States, including Poland and Romania (79.6% and 78.1% respectively). If ILUC effects are considered, the GHG emission intensity of these biofuels is only marginally lower than diesel produced from fossil fuels (i.e. 81.5g CO₂e/MJ in Romania versus 95.1g CO₂e/MJ for diesel).

Supporting information

Definition

EU Member States report annually on the volumes, energy content and life cycle GHG emissions of fuels used in road transport and non-road mobile machinery, in line with their obligations under the . Standards relevant to this reporting requirement are inter alia:

EN 228:2012
EN-ISO 5164:2014
ISO 5163:2014
EN 13016-1:2018

This indicator summarises the information reported by the EU Member States — and subsequently collected, checked and compiled by the European Environment Agency together with the European Topic Centre on Climate Change Mitigation and Energy (ETC/CME) — on the volume, energy consumption and GHG intensity of fossil fuels and biofuels.

MethodologyPolicy/environmental relevance

Justification for indicator selection

Policy relevance: Transport consumes one third of all final energy in the EU. The bulk of this energy comes from oil. This means that transport is responsible for a large share of the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions and is a major contributor to climate change. While most other economic sectors, such as power production and industry, have reduced their emissions since 1990, those from transport have risen. They now account for more than one quarter of the EU’s total greenhouse gas emissions. A reversal of this trend is currently not in sight. That makes the transport sector a major obstacle to realising the EU’s climate protection goals.

EU strategy documents focus on decarbonising transport. The European Commission’s 2018 strategy, ‘A clean planet for all: A European strategic long-term vision for a prosperous, modern, competitive and climate neutral economy’, seeks to chart the course for a transition towards ‘net-zero’ greenhouse gas emissions across the EU by 2050. For transport, it underlines the need for a system-based approach, stresses the importance of switching to low-carbon modes and zero-emission vehicles, underlines the central role of electrification and renewable energy sources, and pushes for operational efficiency improvements.

Similarly, from 2016, the ‘European strategy for low-emission mobility’ has identified a more efficient transport system, the rapid deployment of low-emission fuels and the transition towards low- and zero-emission vehicles as priority areas for action.

In the context of these policies, the FQD (together with the Renewable Energy Directive) shall ensure that fuels from renewable sources such as crops and oils do not have negative impacts on land use, e.g. converting pasture or agricultural land previously destined for food and feed markets to biofuel production, while at the same time reducing the lifecycle greenhouse intensity of road fuels through the inclusion of biofuels.

Environmental relevance: The blending of biofuels is one of the methods available for fossil fuel suppliers to reduce the greenhouse gas intensity of the fossil fuels supplied. Where pasture or agricultural land previously destined for food and feed markets is diverted to biofuel production, the non-fuel demand will still need to be satisfied either through intensification of current production or by bringing non-agricultural land into production elsewhere. The latter case constitutes indirect land-use change and, when it involves the conversion of land with high carbon stock, it can lead to significant greenhouse gas emissions (Directive (EU) 2015/1513). The FQD includes provisions to address the impacts of indirect land-use change while monitoring to what extend the share of biofuels in road transport fuels is increasing.

Scientific references

No rationale references available.

Targets

No targets have been specified.

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References and footnotes

<div class="csl-bib-body" style="line-height: 1.35; "> <div class="csl-entry">EC, 2020, '2050 long-term strategy', <i>European Commission</i> ( <a key=link-1 href=https://ec.europa.eu/clima/policies/strategies/2050_en rel="noopener"> https://ec.europa.eu/clima/policies/strategies/2050_en </a>) accessed July 30, 2020.</div> </div>
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<div class="csl-bib-body" style="line-height: 1.35; "> <div class="csl-entry">EU, 1998, Directive 98/70/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 October 1998 relating to the quality of petrol and diesel fuels and amending Council Directive 93/12/EEC, OJ L 350, 28.12.1998, p. 58-68.</div> </div>
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Greenhouse gas emission intensity of fuels and biofuels for road transport in Europe

Figure 1. Average greenhouse gas intensity of road transport fuels in the EU, 2010-2023

Figure 2. Average greenhouse gas (GHG) intensity reduction of road transport fuels in Member States, between 2010-2023

Supporting information

Methodology for indicator calculation

Methodology for gap filling

Methodology references

Justification for indicator selection

Targets

Related policy documents

Methodology uncertainty

Data set uncertainty

Rationale uncertainty

Metadata

References and footnotes