The 2017 edition of the biofuel barometer published on Monday 31 July by EurObserv’ER, a consortium dedicated to monitoring the development of renewable energies, reveals a slight increase in biofuel consumption in the EU transport sector, from 14.2 million tonnes of oil equivalent (Mtoe) in 2015 to 14.4 Mtoe in 2016, a rise of 1.2%.
The increase was driven by biodiesel consumption (which rose 2.4% to 11.6 Mtoe), with bioethanol consumption slipping slightly by 3.1% to 2.6 Mtoe.
The biofuel incorporation rate in transport across the EU was 7% in 2016, while the percentage share of consumption certified as sustainable remained unchanged in 2016 from 2015 at 92.5%.
The distribution (in energy content) between the different types of biofuel is largely dominated by the biodiesel sector. The breakdown of biofuel sources for 2016 is as follows - biodiesel: 80.6% (79.8% in 2015); bioethanol: 18.4% (19.2% in 2015); biogas: 1% (1% in 2015); the consumption of pure vegetable oil used as fuel was negligible at less than 0.1%. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)