The European Biodiesel Board (EBB) has published its position on the European Union (EU)’s post-2030 Energy and Climate framework and the Renewable Energy Directive (RED).
As the EU looks toward its global decarbonisation target of achieving net climate neutrality by 2050, with interim targets for 2030 and 2040, the EBB has called for a robust RED that prioritises stability, simplifies market entry for renewable fuels and removes regulatory bottlenecks.
In its paper published on 16 April, the EBB gave its backing to a framework that continued the current trend of progressively increasing decarbonisation targets.
The EBB said some general statistics clearly showed the challenges of decarbonising transport, and the need for ambitious transport-specific
targets and measures: EU transport remained responsible for 26% of total greenhouse gas emissions; the share of renewable energy in EU transport reached only 11.2% in 2024, 17.8% lower than the 29% target for 2030; and the EU remained import dependent for fossil fuels.
Supply shocks and fluctuating prices driven by the global geopolitical environment also made greater energy independence even more critical for the EU, the EBB said.
The association, which represents biodiesel and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) producers in the EU, said it remained fully committed to the set climate targets, adding that the EU should keep up its ambitious plans.
“While the Effort Sharing Regulation and ETS I and ETS II are vital, they do not currently provide a price signal strong enough to drive the necessary volumes of renewable fuels,” said Domenico Mininni, policy director at EBB.
“General market mechanisms must remain complementary to specific, ad-hoc transport targets within the post-2030 RED to ensure investment security and clear deployment pathways.”
To unlock the full potential of biofuels, the EBB identified three areas that required immediate legislative attention in the post-2030 era: effective fraud prevention in sustainability certification; strategic reassessment of feedstock eligibility and the removal of obstacles holding back high-blend biofuels.
“The 2040 framework should … set the RED as the regulatory reference for feedstock eligibility matters in all pieces of legislation governing the production and use of biofuels,” Mininni added.
The EBB represents producers using all biodiesel feedstocks: food/feed crops, waste, residues and other biogenic materials.
