Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
in the Member States (for example, The Council of the European Union,
1998; The European Parliament and the Council of the European Union,
2001, 2003). The Council Resolution of 1998 on renewable sources of
energy states:
there is need to promote a sustained and substantially increased use of renew-
able sources of energy throughout the Community in the light of the valuable
contribution renewables can make to environmental protection and the imple-
mentation of the commitments under the Kyoto Protocol, to security of supply
and the preservation of i nite energy resources, and to economic and social
development generally, including in relation to employment and the strength-
ening of the economic structure of the outermost, isolated and island regions.
(The Council of the European Union, 1998, p. 1)
The 1998 Council Resolution was inl uenced by the Commission's
'White' and 'Green' Papers on renewable sources of energy, and endorsed
an indicative target of 12 per cent renewable energy use for the Community
as a whole by 2010 as a useful guidance for all Member States pursuing
policies towards increasing renewable energy production and use (The
Council of the European Union, 1998, p. 1). This resolution also encour-
aged the Member States to 'choose the most appropriate means of pro-
moting use of renewables', suggesting a number of instruments, such as
subsidies, preferential tarif s and purchase obligations to name a few.
The 1998 resolution was followed by a number of other directives
promoting use of renewable energy sources, including one on biofuels or
other renewable fuels for transport - the Council Directive 2003/30/EC
(The European Parliament and the Council of the European Union, 2003).
Among various measures to cut GHG emissions within the EU, the use of
biofuels has been considered a potential alternative to reducing emissions,
especially from transport, as biofuels are seen as the most viable alterna-
tive to replace or complement fossil fuel. As such, the European Directive
2003/30/EC not only aims to promote the use of biofuels in the transport
sector, but also sets out the target for biofuels to be used in transport in the
EU Member States. According to the i rst article of the directive, it
aims at promoting the use of biofuels or other renewable fuels to replace diesel
or petrol for transport purposes in each Member State, with a view to con-
tributing to objectives such as meeting climate change commitments, environ-
mentally friendly security of supply and promoting renewable energy sources.
(Article 1, Directive 2003/30/EC)
Thus, the directive is especially concerned with the promotion of bio-
fuels as the viable alternative to the diesel or petrol used in transport in
the EU, and considers this as one of the means to meet its climate change
