Brussels, 29/07/2014 (Agence Europe) - After several years of dwindling growth, biofuel consumption in the EU fell by 6.8% in 2013, according to the EurObserv'ER Biofuel Barometer published on 21 July. This drop affects biodiesel more than bioethanol - which has seen its market share increase by just over half a percentage point (19.8% compared with 19.2% in 2012).
According to the EurObserv'ER data, biofuel consumption in the EU fell from 14.6 million tonnes oil equivalent (toe) in 2012 to 13.6 million toe in 2013. EurObserv'ER says this fall is mainly linked to the drop in consumption in Spain - which has reduced its biofuel incorporation targets in fuel consumption in the transport sector from 6.5% to 4.1% in 2014 in order to lower the price of fuel at the pump. In smaller proportions, Germany also experienced a fall in biofuel consumption in 2013 - linked to its decision to abolish the last tax exemptions enjoyed by the biofuel sector from 2013 onwards.
By contrast, Sweden, the UK and Denmark significantly increased their incorporation rates. With 11% in 2013 compared with 8.5% in 2012, Sweden has the highest incorporation rate in the whole of Europe. (In the 2020 Energy/Climate framework, the EU set itself a 10% target for the share of renewable energy in the transport sector of each member state.)
France, Austria and Belgium maintained their incorporation rates in 2013, with slight variations upwards or downwards in their biofuel consumption depending on the evolution of the total consumption of fuel (fossil and non-fossil). The biofuel incorporation rates in EU transport in 2013 reached an average of 4.7%.
Bioethanol, with a fall of 3.1% in its consumption compared with -8.5% for biodiesel, has suffered this drop less strongly. Bioethanol therefore experienced an increase in its market share from 19.2% in 2012 to 19.9% in 2013, while biodiesel lost nearly a whole percentage point from 79.8% to 79%. The share of other biofuels - mainly of biogas (0.9%) - remained stable with a market share of 1.1%.
In all, despite a fall of 9.2% in its consumption, Germany remains the top consumer country in the EU (2.768 million toe) - ahead of France (2.687 million toe), Italy (1.225 million toe, -8.8%), the UK (1.015 million toe, +14.5%) and Spain (0.997 million toe, -52.5%).
On the other hand, EurObserv'ER states that the consumption of biofuel certified as sustainable (100% of total biofuel consumption in Germany, France, Italy, the UK, Poland, Sweden and Belgium, 95% in the Netherlands, 92% in Austria and 0% in Spain) which can thus be taken into account in the European objectives, slightly increased in a year - rising from 11.7 million toe in 2012 to 11.8 million toe in 2013. Given the slight decline in consumption, the share of certified sustainable consumption in total fuel consumption is therefore be a clear increase, reaching 86.5% in 2013 compared with 79.8% in 2012. In 2013, only a small handful of countries had still not adopted a law on the sustainability of biofuels, which would enable their biofuel consumption to be certified as sustainable - Spain, Portugal, Finland, Bulgaria, Malta, Cyprus, Estonia and Croatia. (EH)