Parliament set for compromise on renewables

The European Parliament’s Industry and Energy Committee today (11 September) looks set to approve a cross-party compromise reaffirming binding targets for renewables and on the use of biofuels in transport.

Green MEP and rapporteur on the Commission’s renewable energy proposals Claude Turmes announced yesterday that he had secured cross-party support for his report after sifting through more than 2,000 amendments over the summer. 

Biofuel target confirmed 

Despite strong pressure to water down a draft law aimed at achieving a 10% share of biofuels in transport fuels by 2020 – due to fears over their role in pushing up food prices and causing deforestation – MEPs are set to confirm the mandatory target. 

The Turmes report will indeed call for a 5% target by 2015 and a 10% target by 2020. It will nevertheless specify that at least 40% of this overall share must be met from “non-food and feed competing” second-generation biofuels or from cars running on green electricity and hydrogen. 

Other biofuels would only count towards the target if they meet stricter sustainability criteria than initially suggested. Indeed, while the Commission had initially said biofuels should offer 35% carbon emission savings compared to fossil fuels, Turmes said the compromise would require a 45% saving, which could rise to 60% in 2015.

These figures are also higher than those currently under consideration by EU ambassadors, who appear to have found a consensus on a two-phased approach initially requiring a 35% saving, which would then be scaled up to 50% in 2017. 

The compromise is likely to frustrate both green groups and biofuel producers. The first insist the 10% target be dropped entirely, arguing that “unsustainable biofuels have no place in a clean renewable energy mix” as they are costly, “do not help climate protection” and merely “increase pressure on biodiversity and food prices”. But the latter are accusing MEPs of undermining the target by “chopping it to pieces”, creating “misguided” quotas for electricity and hydrogen which “are not renewable per se and much less sustainable”. 

Flexibility, but fines too, for renewables? 

Turmes also confirmed MEPs’ support for the EU’s goal of achieving a 20% share of renewable energy in overall generation but said the compromise text did not support the Commission’s proposals to set up a system for trading renewable certificates (so-called Guarantees of Origin). 

Instead, it appears they will back proposals for new flexibility mechanisms put forward by Germany, the UK and Poland in June. This would notably allow EU countries to collaborate towards achieving their individual goals via joint projects. 

On the other hand, MEPs are also likely to approve “the principle of financial penalties” for countries that fail to meet their national targets in 2020, Turmes said. The money could then go towards a fund that would serve to reward those countries that exceed their national targets by means of an incentive. 

Key vote

The vote is important, as the Industry Committee leads the debate in Parliament on the issue of renewables. Turmes said he believed that an agreement today could enable a deal to be struck with EU governments on the legislation before the end of the year. 

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