Page 36 - Biofuels for a More Sustainable Future

30 Biofuels for a More Sustainable Future

the form of detailed statutes and executive acts holistically regulating biofuels
production, distribution, and use. Such acts have to be consistent with EU
directives and effectively realize their goals.
At Union level it is fundamental the Directive 2009/28/EC of the Euro-
pean 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” (hereinafter referred
1
to as “RED Directive”). The RED Directive regulates promotion of
renewable energy sources in general, but the biofuels regulations are
especially large.
The states level is constituted by different legal acts of each of 28 EU
member states. For the purpose of this article the RES Legal database of bio-
fuels support schemes in various member states was analyzed.
The RED Directive has a large preamble in which there are described
general context, problems, and motivations for passing the act. The main
motivation included greenhouse gases emission reduction, energy security,
technological development and innovation, regional and local development,
employment, rural development, social cohesion, SMEs, and independent
producers’ development. Issues concerning potential negative impact of
biofuels on food production and prices, biodiversity loss, indirect land use
changes, or raise of greenhouse gases emission are extensively discussed.
Simultaneously, the directive proposes appropriate solutions like the intro-
duction of sustainability criteria for biofuels production as well as the devel-
opment of second and third generations biofuels.

4.1.2 Support schemes
The RED Directive established the binding goals of biofuels for member
states; however, it did not introduce any specific support scheme leaving
the choice in this matter to single states. As a binding goal, the Directive sets
a minimum 10% level of final energy consumption in transport in each
member state to be generated from renewable sources (not necessary
biofuels). Simultaneously, in each member state “the share of energy from
biofuels produced from cereal and other starch-rich crops, sugars and oil
crops and from crops grown as main crops primarily for energy purposes
on agricultural land shall be no more than 7% of the final consumption of
2
energy in transport.”
1
Consolidated version of the Directive from 2015, EUR-Lex, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/
legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri¼CELEX:02009L0028-20151005 (accessed 25 July 2018).
2
Article 3, paragraph 4, point d of RED Directive.