Abstract
This chapter will look at the lessons learned from past and present EU decision making in the area of cleaner conventional and renewable fuels as well as the problems confronting policy makers in trying to move toward low carbon fuels. Today we are tasked with finding low carbon substitutes for fossil fuels yet most existing replacements are not issue free nor do they necessarily fit total low carbon requirements. Many would also say that the focus of our low carbon search should not be on existing fuel products and traditional transport modes but rather on new transport solutions and demand management options. Without a doubt the feat ahead is by far more complex than any challenge to the fuels industry or policy makers previously. We are now confronted with the need to take an entirely new approach to liquid fuels and their role in society within a short time horizon. Hence we have to completely re-think the role of liquid fossil fuels in meeting societal demands for transport energy. As in all system changes this must allow for transitional periods and adaptation steps while innovation and scale up is streamlined. It must also go hand and hand with simultaneous efforts to manage demand and implement mandatory efficiency requirements across Europe as no technology or single product will solve the fuel de-carbonization challenge.
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- 1.
By their nature, wicked problems have no definitive nature and are difficult to describe. They represent sets of inter‐related problems, some of which are actually not problems if considered individually. There are no easy, yes or no, or discreet solutions to wicked problems. Because every potential solution matters a great deal and it is virtually impossible to model the entire system, potential solutions must be tested and feedback assessed in a more or less immediate and dynamic manner. Every wicked problem is typically a system of another (wicked) problem and therefore when taken in totally represent the imbalance and imperfections in large and complex systems.
- 2.
The Climate and Energy Package is a package of EU climate and energy measures approved in December 2008 and implemented in 2011. The package also includes fuel quality amendments.
- 3.
Figure designed by Sandrine Dixson-Declève whilst working for Hart Energy Consulting (2003) http://www.hartenergy.com
- 4.
European Commission, DG Environment, personal communication with Peter Gammeltoft, Head of Unit (2004).
- 5.
‘EU rethinks biofuels guidelines’, Roger Harrabin, BBC News http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7186380.stm [last accessed March 2011].
- 6.
Due to direct links with the 10% transport target in the Renewable Energy Directive and uncertainties in the role of biofuels as a result of indirect land use concerns, the 6% target will therefore be reviewed in 2014.
- 7.
This chapter will not focus on the remaining 4% non-binding target as Chapter 4 discusses vehicle electrification. Needless to say the methodology necessary for assessing low carbon electrification must still be defined and linked to the Renewables Directive. In addition, it is not clear when CCS will truly be a cost effective and viable solution although it was agreed that CCS could be included in the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). That said the CDM is currently under scrutiny and many countries believe that reform is necessary as biofuel and biomass projects are not readily accepted whilst loopholes allow other projects in the area of HCFC’s for example to be accepted.
- 8.
Personal communication with Dr. Petr Steiner, World Refining and Fuels Service, Hart Energy Consulting (2010) http://www.hartenergy.com
- 9.
‘EU yields to Canada over oil trade “barriers”: sources’. Pete Harrison, Reuters. http://ca.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idCATRE62N3T920100324 [last accessed March 2011].
- 10.
The lawsuit, brought by ClientEarth, Transport & Environment, the European Environmental Bureau, and BirdLife International, challenges the Commission’s failure to release documents containing previously undisclosed information on the negative climate impacts of widespread biofuels use in the European Union. It is the second time the Commission has been sued for lack of transparency on EU biofuels policy.
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Dixson-Declève, S. (2012). Fuel Policies in the EU: Lessons Learned from the Past and Outlook for the Future. In: Zachariadis, T. (eds) Cars and Carbon. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-2123-4_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-2123-4_5
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