Legislation - Proposal for a Directive Specifications of motor fuels - proposal for a directive

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Publications : Liquid Biofuels and Biogas : Storage/Transport



COM(2007) 18 Proposal for a DIRECTIVE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL amending Directive 98/70/EC as regards the specification of petrol, diesel and gas-oil and the introduction of a mechanism to monitor and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the use of road transport fuels and amending Council Directive 1999/32/EC, as regards the specification of fuel used by inland waterway vessels and repealing Directive 93/12/EEC, Brussels, 31 January 2007, (presented by the European Commission)

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The Directive (98/701) under consideration established minimum specifications for petrol and diesel fuels for use in road and non-road mobile applications. These specifications were established for health and environmental reasons. This proposal for revision of Directive 98/70 aims to contribute to reducing air pollutant and greenhouse gas emissions from road and non-road fuel use and help to implement the Community strategies on air quality and on climate change. It will lead to lower emissions of particulate matter. It will also enable the use of higher volumes of biofuels while taking into consideration environmental and health requirements. It will also reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the fuels regulated.

The main reasons for reviewing the Directive stem from evolving fuel and engine technology and the growth in biofuel use. The Community air quality goals and the continuing need to address Greenhouse Gas emissions are the other main factors influencing the need for revision of the Directive.

This doccument present the case for the proposed changes and details the consultation processes whereby opinion and information was collected in order to substantiate the validity of the proposals. These cover both aspects of petroleum-based fuel components (relating to properties such as sulphur and poly aromatic hydrocarbon content) and the blending of biofuels. To enable a higher volume of biofuels to be used in petrol, a separate petrol blend is established with higher permitted oxygenate content (including up to 10% ethanol). For the same reason, the vapour pressure limit is increased for petrol blended with ethanol.

A mandatory monitoring of lifecycle greenhouse gases is introduced from 2009. From 2011 these emissions must be reduced by 1% per year on the base of Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) .

This will ensure that the fuel sector contributes to achieving the Community's longer term greenhouse gas reduction goals and parallels efforts on improving vehicle efficiency. It will also stimulate further development of low carbon fuels and other measures to reduce emissions from the production chain.