Airlines can count biofuel as zero-emission fuel for green house gas emission reports

BIOFUEL

Airlines can count biofuel as zero-emission fuel for green house gas emission reports

Greentech Lead Team: Here is the good news for the
struggling Airlines industry. Airline industry has been told that biofuel usage
will be counted as zero-emission fuels in their mandatory annual green house
gas emission reports, as requested by the European Commission, this week.

The EC outlined its plans for the verification and
monitoring of greenhouse gases in a set of draft EU regulations that cover
reporting best practice for European industries covered by the EU’s flagship
emissions trading scheme (EU-ETS). EU member states and the European Parliament
must approve the draft texts before they can become law.

Among these is a requirement for airlines to list
“the amount of biomass used as a fuel,” broken down on a yearly
basis. The airlines’ biofuel consumption should come as an annex to the annual
emission report, according to the draft.

The aim is to provide incentives for airlines to use more
biofuels, assuming that those have a zero-emissions factor. Under the EU ETS we
provide a financial incentive for the use of biofuels in aviation, as use of
biofuels has a zero-emissions factor, which means that no allowances need to be
surrendered.

This means that biofuels have a subsidy equivalent to the
prevailing carbon price. The scheme will be a cost-effective incentive as the
subsidy for biofuels is equivalent to the cost of reducing emissions in other
sectors.

The publication of these draft texts comes amidst
concerns over the potential negative effect of biomass cultivation and its
effect on the environment. However, the Commission indicates that the European
aviation carbon-reduction scheme will only take into account biofuels that
respect EU-certified sustainability schemes.


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