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The environmental assessment of biofuel production and use is becoming increasingly relevant as a result of the current political conditions at the European and national level. As a result of the intense public debate about the sustainability of an increased biofuel use, the European Commission introduced sustainability criteria for biofuels by the means of the EU Directive 2009/28/EC (RES-D). With the enactment of this directive and its implementation within Germany under the terms of the Biofuel Sustainability Ordinance (Biokraft-NachV), compliance with specific savings targets for greenhouse gas emissions will become obligatory for biofuels [1], [2]. For this reason it will be of vital importance for biofuel producer to be able to identify and make use of possible environmental optimisation potentials in the greenhouse gas balance of their fuel.
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With the enactment of the EU Directive on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources (RES-D) and its enactment under German federal law in the form of the Biofuel Sustainability Ordinance (BioKraft-NachV), a number of binding sustainability criteria for the production and use of biofuels have been introduced. Amongst other criteria, the EU Directive as well as the German Ordinance includes specifications with regard to the reduction of greenhouse gases (GHG) by means of biofuel use. Meeting these reduction targets will in future be a mandatory condition for the recognition of a fuel as part of the national biofuel quota.
On the occasion of the presentation of the estimated area under rapeseed for 2011, the chairman of the Union zur Förderung von Oel- und Proteinpflanzen e.V. (UFOP), Dr. Klaus Kliem, demanded a different market price in favour of rapeseed with sustainability certificate.
The reason for a reasonable price difference between rapeseed with and without sustainability certificate was to recover the extra cost of certification, registration, administration and control. The cost of certification had to reflect in the price, Dr. Kliem insisted.
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The German sustainability decree does not only increase administrative costs for the biofuels sector nor is it a simple amendment to the sustainability decree on electricity generation from biomass (BiomassestromNachhaltigkeitsverordnung - BioSt-NachV)). First, it re-defines market access to one of the top EU biofuel markets, also for non-EU market participants, from mid-2010. Second, the decree determines feedstock sourcing for biofuels producers. Finally, it may act as an example for the yet to be issued EU guidelines. Besides the new requirements from the government's decree, the biofuels consumption pattern is to change in the years to 2015, while discussions on the implementation of a greenhouse gas (GHG)-based biofuels legislation have already started.
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From a quota system to GHG reduction requirements and the impact on biofuels
Since biofuels have been criticised increasingly in the recent past, current proposals for the reorientation of biofuels policy at German and European levels require sustainability certification of biofuels.1 In addition to the assurance of sustainable biomass production for bioenergy, reduction of GHG is also highly emphasized. The tendency is to no longer set mere volume or energetic quotas for the use of biofuels. It rather becomes apparent that in future policies GHG saving targets or at least a minimum percentage of GHG savings for biofuels, which can be accounted for within the quota system or tax promotion will dominate.
The target of reducing the emission of greenhouse gases (GHG) from biofuels at least by 35% at present and by 50% from 2017 cannot, in most cases, be met by the standard levels defined in the Renewable Energies Directive (2009/28/EC) alone. What is needed is the individual optimisation of GHG emissions of each raw material and during processing along the whole conversion chain.
Crop farming is also affected if maximum 41.9 gCO2eq/MJ are not to be exceeded latest from 2017 and the limit for new plants is 33.5 gCO2eq/MJ from 2018. At a standard 52 g CO2eq/MJ , the emissions from rapeseed-based biodiesel is just below the limit of 54.5 g CO2eq/MJ for the present reduction target of 35 % in comparison with fossil fuel. So, to reach the reduction target of 50 % from 2017 and 60 % for new plants from 2018, additional efforts of reducing GHG emissions are an absolute necessity also on the part of crop farmers.
Effective 1 July 2010, biofuels will only be considered for blending purposes or tax relief if the prescribed sustainability certificate has been issued. Precondition for the sustainability certificate is that comprehensive documentation of the complete chain to farm level is available. The basis is a statement by the farmer to make sure that, nationally, the crop has not been grown on protected areas and, internationally, that rain forest has not been cleared.