ACEA

Biofuels are essential in overall approach to reduce CO2 emissions

The European car manufacturers consider sustainable biofuels an essential part of an integrated approach to reducing CO2 emissions and have invested in engine adjustments to apply both today’s and future, higher, biofuel blends.

Such an ‘integrated approach’ to reduce CO2 emissions combines further improvements in vehicle technology with the use of alternative fuels (including biofuels), improvements in infrastructure and changes in driving style and consumer demand. Biofuels are an indispensable part of this strategy to efficiently cut CO2 emissions from cars.

Biofuels can be used by cars that are already on the roads and can therefore be applied to the vehicle car ‘parc’ as a whole, without having to wait for new vehicle technology to dominate the fleet.

Today’s market fuel standards (EN228 and EN590) permit up to 5% ethanol in petrol and 5% FAME (Fatty Acid Methyl Ester) in diesel. These components ethanol and FAME are commonly referred to as “first-generation” biofuels, and European cars are capable of operating safely on such blended fuels. However, fuel producers supply fuel to the market that contain nowhere near the 5% permitted level of biofuels. A move to sell petrol and diesel with 5% biofuel could save at least 6 – 12 million tonnes of CO2 per annum.

Quality concerns

Vehicle manufacturers want to ensure good performance of vehicles over their whole lifetime, and insist on good quality fuels being available for all vehicles in use. This includes good quality of the biofuel itself and when blended into petrol or diesel. Furthermore, many existing cars will experience performance problems if the level of biofuel exceeds the 5% levels. To cater for older vehicles that would not be compatible with these higher blends of biofuels, the ‘first-generation’ fuels of today must remain available at the pump and distinct labelling must be used at all filing stations so drivers know clearly what fuel is suitable for their vehicle. The recently adopted Directive on fuel quality will, unfortunately, not make such labeling mandatory.

Despite these concerns, and in order to provide a wider opportunity for sustainable first-generation biofuels, ACEA has announced that by 2010, all new models will be capable of running on petrol containing up to 10% ethanol and diesel containing up to 7% FAME subject to the quality of the pure biofuel and the final fuel blend being ‘fit for purpose’. However, it should be understood that these levels do present technical challenges and ACEA does not recommend going beyond these. The industry therefore welcomes that the new Fuel Quality Directive will allow for diesel to include no more than 7% of FAME. However, it is a concern that member states will still be allowed to have diesel products with a higher FAME content on the market. This cannot only distort the internal market, but also lead to inconsistent fuel quality across the EU.

This is in contrast to the auto industry request that all initiatives to change fuel standards in the future must be harmonised across the EU to ensure constant fuel quality in all Member States. Furthermore, this situation does not help to achieve that EU fuel standards be applied widely outside the EU.

Second-generation biofuels

So-called “second-generation” biofuels can further reduce CO2 emissions and will also solve the technical problems associated with first generation biofuels. Second-generation biofuels are essentially hydrocarbons, similar in nature to oil-based hydrocarbons, such as petrol and diesel. They are mainly produced from non-food crops, wood or agricultural waste such as straw.

European automakers conduct research on all alternative fuels, including second-generation biofuels, both individually and through their European Research Council EUCAR. EUCAR has established a working group on fuels, and contributed to the well-to-wheel analysis of biofuels, assessing their overall emissions including production and consumption.

While research on new fuels is crucial, first-generation biofuels will remain a solution for reducing CO2 emissions today, if the right sustainability criteria and robust technical standards are applied.  Much research is still needed to find the best fuel technologies for the future. It cannot be said at this point which one of them will prove to be the most efficient, environmentally friendly and economical. None of the options should be discarded today.

• ACEA biofuel statement
• ACEA FAQ on biofuels
• ACEA Dossier on CO2 emissions
• Commission Proposal for Amending the Directive on Fuel Quality
• European Commission: Stricter fuel standards to combat climate change and reduce air pollution
• European Commission: Promoting biofuels as credible alternatives to oil in transport

last updated 12/05/2009

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