European Biofuels Policy and Implementation Flexibility of Member Countries

 The Biofuels International website recently posted a feature article on “Europe’s Patchwork of National Policies” on biofuels. Under the “Directive on the Promotion of the Use of Biofuels and Other renewable Fuels for Transport” (better known as the EU “Biofuels Directive”), member states are directed to take measures to replace 5.75% of all transport fossil fuels with biofuels by 2010. While the directive is in place, the report noted that there is “no harmonized European biofuel implementation policy”. Member states set national biofuel replacement targets (“ideally identical” to 5.75% by 2010), and are left to put up their own implementation strategies. The report made the following observations” (1) member states generally use one or a combination of the following implementation instruments: legislated mandates (fuel manufacturers, for example are obliged by law to achieve the national target), subsidies, or tax incentives, (2) the market environment (i.e., “openness” or “closeness” of the markets) vary in each member state, (3) some member states put strict regulations on fuel quality. The report concludes that it may be interesting to analyze the implementation strategies of the member countries in order to see which one provides the best results.

Related information (capsule overview of the EU Biofuels Directive): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directive_on_the_Promotion_of_the_use_of_biofuels_and_other_renewable_fuels_for_transport http://www.bioenergywiki.net/index.php/European_Union