EC to allow cross-border renewables trading

16 January 2008 16:51  [Source: ICIS news]

PARIS (ICIS news)--The European Commission (EC) will allow European energy suppliers to meet domestic renewable energy targets by purchasing green energy certificates from companies in other EU countries, according to the EC’s latest draft of a directive on renewable energy.

The EC will publish its final plans on 23 January aimed at producing 20% of Europe’s energy from renewable sources by 2020, 10% of its transport fuel from biofuels and reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 20% compared to 1990 levels by 2020.

The latest draft of the plans proposes the free trading of cross-border renewable energy certificates, known as guarantees of origin (GO) to help member states meet their renewable targets.

It is still unclear how the 20% target will be divided among member states. But the draft confirms that the 10% target for renewable energy in transport will be “set at the same level for each member state in order to ensure consistency in transport fuel specifications and availability”.

It also states the necessity of laying down clear rules for the calculation of GHG emissions from biofuels and their fossil fuel comparators and proposes default values for GHG savings from the most common biofuels.

Ethanol from wheat is given a default GHG saving of 0%, while ethanol produced from EU-cultivated maize is given a 50% saving.

Bookmark Simon Robinson’s Big Biofuels Blog for some independent thinking on biofuels

By: Philippa Jones
+44 20 8652 3214

< previous article(VIDEO - ICIS news Europe Lunchtime Bulletin 27 October 2009)

For the latest chemical news, data and analysis that directly impacts your business sign up for a free trial to ICIS news - the breaking online news service for the global chemical industry.

Get the facts and analysis behind the headlines from our market leading weekly magazine: sign up to a free trial to ICIS Chemical Business.

Printer Friendly