As the EU enters its next political phase – with a new European Commission and Parliament considering whether to tweak certain Green Deal policies – the time is right to rethink its approach to reducing transport emissions and give more of a role to sustainable liquid fuels such as renewable ethanol.
Recent news headlines have made it clear there is widespread support for this policy reset. Some car companies, for example, have said that they need more flexibility in meeting emissions reduction targets, and warned against pushing too soon for all-electric vehicle fleets. Likewise, some EU Member States have called on the European
Commission to act soon to provide more flexibility in the approach to transport decarbonisation.
Meanwhile, monthly reports from the auto industry confirm the need for such flexibility, showing that Europeans are still hesitant about the switch to all-electric vehicles and are still buying mostly petrol and hybrid cars—which run on a combination of battery-electric power and liquid fuel.
The reality is that the EU needs a hybrid approach that makes the best use of solutions that work today and will continue to reduce emissions in the future: battery electric vehicles in urban settings and hybrid cars running on sustainable liquid fuels where charging options aren’t always available.
As these petrol and hybrid cars will be on Europe’s roads until well beyond 2035, it’s more important than ever that renewable ethanol produced in the EU—which reduces GHG emissions from gasoline and hybrid cars by more than 79%, on average, compared to fossil fuels—play more of a role in de-fossilising transport.
It’s not just a matter of finding the best way to achieve the ambitious targets the EU has set for itself in the fight against climate change; it’s also a matter of rising to the challenge of staying economically competitive.
This was underlined dramatically recently in a report to the Commission from Mario Draghi, who said the EU should take a more pragmatic, technology-open approach to achieving its Fit for 55 goals and unleash the potential of sustainable low carbon alternative fuels such as renewable ethanol.
The Draghi report also notes that while the EU has been a world leader in developing renewable energy – thanks in part to the use of sustainable biofuels – its recent policy choices put it at a competitive disadvantage against the rest of the world going forward.
Opening up to the contribution of renewable fuels as early as possible will not only help broaden the range of solutions and preserve affordable mobility for all EU citizens, but also lead to faster emissions reduction instead of waiting for sales of battery electric vehicles to grow and the infrastructure they require to develop.
In the coming months, as the EU moves to clarify its definition of CO2-neutral fuels, it should take this reality into consideration. It should also consider the major innovations in production that are already increasing the GHG-savings score of European renewable ethanol, in some cases to more than 90% compared to fossil fuel. All renewable ethanol that is compliant with the Renewable Energy Directive (RED) should be included in the definition of CO2-neutral fuels.
Such a technology-open approach is essential, as Draghi pointed out. "The technological neutrality principle, which has been a guiding principle of EU legislation, has not always been applied in the automotive sector,” his report states. It notes the upcoming review of the CO2 for cars regulation “should follow a technologically neutral approach and should take stock of market and technological developments.”
The question now is whether the new Commission and Parliament will take these persuasive arguments into consideration and make it easier for the EU to meet transport decarbonisation goals everyone supports.