Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
commitments as set out in the Kyoto Protocol. The directive lists ten
products it classii es as biofuels, including biodiesel and bioethanol - the
biofuels that are already available and used in signii cant proportions
around the world. In Article 3, this directive also sets minimum targets for
all the Member States, and encourages them to set their own 'indicative
targets'.
2
Furthermore, the directive provides l exibility as to how the biofuels for
transport are made available in the market, allowing for the supply of pure
biofuels (biodiesel and bioethanol) or blended with fossil fuels. Where the
biofuels are supplied as blends, the directive requires specii c labelling of
such fuels only when the quantity of biofuels in such blends exceed 5 per
cent (Directive 2003/30/EC,
OJ L
123, p. 45). Finally, the directive sets out
the guidelines for reporting the annual progress in meeting the set targets
by the Member States, before 1 July each year. The directive stated that
the Commission would draw up an evaluation report on the progress
made in the i rst phase by 31 December 2006, adding that:
If this [evaluative] report concludes that the indicative targets are not likely to
be achieved for reasons that are unjustii ed and/or do not relate to new scien-
tii c evidence, these proposals shall address national targets, including possible
mandatory targets, in the appropriate form. (Directive 2003/30/EC,
OJ L
123,
p. 46)
So, although the targets set by the directive were non-binding and more
as guidelines, if the Member States were not doing enough to promote
the use of biofuels in transport during the i rst phase as set out by the
directive, without justii able reasons, the directive clearly stated that the
Commission could make the targets mandatory in the second phase.
Indeed, despite a relatively low minimum target set by the directive for the
i rst phase, it is now clear that the 2 per cent target for the minimum pro-
portion of biofuels and other renewable fuels that should have been placed
on the markets of the EC Member States by the end of 2005 has not been
met by the Member States except for Germany and Sweden (European
Commission, 2006, 2007b). According to the 2006 progress report, the
share of biofuels in the transport market for the 21 Member States where
biofuels are in use was only 1 per cent by the end of 2005. Although this
1 per cent market share is 'a good rate of progress - a doubling in two
years' according to the 2006 progress report, it is only half the target set
by Directive 2003/30/EC, and less than the 1.4 per cent share that would
have been achieved if all the Member States had met their annual indica-
tive targets (European Commission, 2007b, p. 6). Furthermore, both the
progress among the Member States and the rate of adoption of biofuels
seemed very uneven - with only Germany (3.8 per cent) and Sweden (2.2
