MEPs sitting in plenary session on Wednesday 19 October adopted the reports by Ismail Ertug (S&D, German) on the deployment of alternative fuel infrastructure (‘AFIR’) (see EUROPE 13046/12) and by Jörgen Warborn (EPP, Swedish) on the use of renewable and low-carbon fuels in maritime transport (‘FuelEU Maritime’) (see EUROPE 13046/13). While many welcomed the outcome of the votes, some in the Greens/EFA group criticised a “lack of ambition”.
“Our ambitions have been tempered, in particular by the exception for small airports, which are thus exempt from compulsory electrification. Similarly, the inclusion of liquefied natural gas (LNG) for trucks ‘where the demand exists’ is clearly in contradiction with the European Green Deal and even more so with the current gas shortage”, commented Anna Deparnay-Grunenberg (Greens/EFA, German) on the AFIR report.
“We are critical of the use of hydrogen as an alternative propulsion system on the roads, because hydrogen is needed mainly in other sectors, such as the cement and aluminium industry, which are much more difficult to decarbonise”, she added.
Similarly, Transport Committee chair Karima Delli (Greens/EFA, French) expressed regret over the ‘FuelEU Maritime’ report.
“I particularly regret that a majority of my colleagues did not vote in favour of a carbon-neutral maritime sector in 2050: the roadmap we are giving to this sector will not allow it to meet the objectives of the European Green Deal that we adopted at the beginning of our mandate”, she said.
The Greens/EFA group was joined by several transport organisations, such as T&E, which said that LNG “used by ships in Europe today is worse for the climate than the fuels it replaces because of the release of a powerful gas, methane. (...) We cannot allow this to happen”. (Original version in French by Thomas Mangin)