The JRC and its partners in the JEC Consortium have re-investigated the potential for fuels from renewable sources to achieve the 10% renewable energy target for the EU transport sector by 2020 as mandated by the Renewable Energy Directive (RED). Associated calculations of the greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions as mandated by the Fuel Quality Directive (FQD) have also been performed for the different fuel demand scenarios. The first JEC Biofuels Study was completed in 2011 and has been updated to account for changes in the vehicle fleet composition, fuel demand, fuels and biofuels supply that have occurred since 2011 as well as for the regulatory amendment proposals that have been introduced since then to account for indirect land use change (ILUC) factors.
The study provides a scientific assessment of different fuel demand scenarios and their associated impacts on the achievement of the RED 10% renewable energy and FQD 6% GHG reduction targets for transport. The primary focus is on road transport demand, although all other transport modes (aviation, rail, inland navigation and off-road) have also been considered for their potential contribution to the RED and FQD targets.
However, the work does not limit its focus to the role of biofuels in road transport, asthe RED and FQD mandated targets do not solely consider biofuels as alternative fuels. Accordingly, alternatives to both fossil fuels and biofuels in the EU transport sector have been investigated, using the latest available JEC Well-to-Wheels data.
The JEC research collaboration comprises the JRC, EUCAR (the European Council for Automotive R&D) and CONCAWE (the oil companies' European association for environment, health and safety in refining and distribution). These organisations have collaborated since 2000 in several areas related to the sustainability of the European vehicle and oil industries, providing facts relating to energy use, efficiency and emissions from a broad range of road vehicle powertrain and fuel options.