Professional Associations Call for Long-term Regulatory Framework

Professional Associations Call for Reliable Long-term Regulatory Framework for Ramp-up of Renewable Fuels

Berlin, 22.1.2025: At the 22nd International Conference on Renewable Mobility, 600 participants discussed solutions for climate change mitigation in the transport sector. In the light of the enormous demand for energy in road transport, shipping, and aviation, along with the pressing challenge of climate change mitigation, there was broad agreement among experts during the two days of the conference on 20th and 21st January 2025 that all sustainable renewable fuels, including biodiesel, bioethanol, biomethane, HVO and e-fuels, will be required to ensure rapid defossilisation of the transport sector, along with an ambitious ramp-up of electric mobility. Representatives from the worlds of science and industry called on politicians to create long-term, reliable targets and a fitting regulatory framework for ramp-up of all sustainably produced renewable fuel options in the transport sector. As this calls for billions of euros in investment, it is crucial to establish a secure long-term legal framework, which must extend well beyond the target date stipulated in the Renewable Energy Directive (RED III), which is currently scheduled for national implementation. Planning and investment security are decisive in encouraging companies to invest in developing and expanding production capacities for renewable fuels. That is essential at present to replace fossil fuels with renewable alternatives in increasingly globalised markets. Alternative fuel options are required, along with a soundly designed all-round funding strategy to help ensure climate-friendly solutions in coming decades for the still enormous fleet of vehicles with combustion engines, as well as for applications that cannot be electrified. Participants on the whole agreed that bolstering market access for alternative fuels through competition to attain the greatest CO2 efficiency would send out a positive message. Germany’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Act, which includes phased increases in the level of CO2 reduction targets and a technology-neutral approach, can serve as an example in this context. Presentations during sessions at this year’s conference repeatedly underlined the merits of this approach with a view to the EU, USA or Brazil.

The panel discussion focussed on steps to take in future to prevent any repetition of the alleged fraud cases with purportedly advanced biofuel imports from China. The fraud scandal and the irregularities in climate change mitigation projects in the context of oil production (UER) in China are undermining the reputation of the statutory certification system and confidence in its reliability, due to failings in the administrative oversight exercised within the Federal Ministry for the Environment (BMUV). Criticism was also levelled at the European Commission’s failure to take on responsibility; speakers also noted the need to improve how public authorities fulfil their remit. That holds particularly true if the EU database, currently in the throes of development, is to fulfil its intended role of ensuring traceability, also with a view to preventing fraud. A survey conducted during the panel discussion emphatically confirmed the need for more rigorous monitoring, as also advocated by the biofuels industry. 80 per cent of conference participants agreed with the statement in the survey that official on-the-spot inspections are the most effective means of preventing fraud. However, it remains to be seen whether the legislative amendments addressing this, drafted at short notice by the Federal Ministry for the Environment and submitted to the outgoing parliament, can be adopted before the end of the current legislative period and the forthcoming elections to the German Bundestag. The conference organisers announced that these challenges will also be addressed at next year’s conference.

The next International Conference on Renewable Mobility “Fuels of the Future 2026” will be held on 19th and 20th January 2026 at the CityCube in Berlin: www.fuels-of-the-
future.com/en