Commission targets oil companies’ emissions

The European Commission is aiming to oblige oil companies to reduce the effect of their fuels on climate change. Climate change reduction targets are contained in a proposal to revise the fuel quality directive to be discussed by commissioners on 16 January.

For road transport fuels, the oil companies would be required to reduce their carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions per unit of energy content by 1% per year from 2011 until 2020.

The Commission estimates that this would achieve a reduction in CO2 emissions of 100 megatonnes per year in 2020.

Stefan Singer of WWF, the conservation group, said 100 megatonnes per year was "a significant number for a single sectoral action". It was, he estimated, roughly equivalent to twice the emissions of Belgium and about 2% of the EU’s total emissions.

In a separate but related move, the Commission’s transport and energy department is pushing for the EU to agree legally binding targets to boost the use of biofuels - usually produced from organic matter such as manure or plants - in cars.

EU support for biofuels has been a matter of contention, with the Commission’s agriculture and trade departments wanting to help certain producers of these fuels. Environmentalists on the other hand have pointed out that the net environmental impact of biofuels depends on how and where they are produced and transported.

A biofuels communication is included in the package of energy papers that commissioners are to consider next month, in theory at their 10 January meeting although the proposals may be delayed. The draft text, seen by European Voice, assumes a target for biofuels of a 14% share of the fuel market in 2020, though the target will be the subject of fierce debate between commissioners.

Biofuels currently account for 1% of the EU fuels market, meaning that a voluntary 5.75% target by 2010 "will not be achieved", according to the draft.

Peter Tjan of the European Petroleum Industry Association said he would prefer a general CO2 reduction target rather than a sector-specific approach. "The Commission’s role should then be to set in place the right tools to let the market work and then step back and let it happen," he said.

The measures contained in the revision of the fuel-quality directive would help the Commission assess the environmental impact of different fuels. Oil companies would be required from 2009 to monitor and report on the CO2 emissions of their fuels over their life-cycle.

Howard Chase of BP, the energy company, said: "It appears interesting if it would help to incentivise fuels with a greater carbon efficiency from source to wheel."

The Commission expects that the fuel companies will achieve most of the required reduction in CO2 emissions by introducing fuels with a greater proportion of biofuels and better performing biofuels.

Chase said: "In particular it should be encouraging for advanced biofuel and second-generation biofuel technologies."

The imposition of measures on the fuel industry may increase pressure on the car industry to do more to combat climate change. A proposal for EU legislation obliging car manufacturers to reduce the average CO2 emissions of new cars was scheduled for discussion by commissioners on 12 December but is being delayed until the energy review has been adopted by the Commission.

Commission departments are divided over how demanding a target to set for the carmakers. Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas is pushing for a target of 120 grams per kilometre (g/km) by 2012. The enterprise department favours a higher threshold, closer to 130g/km.

The energy review is also likely to propose a binding 2020 target for the proportion of energy consumption from renewable energy.

The European Commission is aiming to oblige oil companies to reduce the effect of their fuels on climate change. Climate change reduction targets are contained in a proposal to revise the fuel quality directive to be discussed by commissioners on 16 January.