The EU’s Biofuels: Certified as Sustainable?
© Lexxion Verlagsgesellschaft mbH (12/2012)
The focus of the article is on the practical implementation of the EU Renewable Energy Directive’s sustainability criteria. The article discusses verification of compliance through voluntary certification schemes, one of the three ways in which Member States can enforce their responsibility of requiring economic operators to show compliance with the sustainability criteria. The voluntary certification schemes are tasked with guaranteeing that all biofuels verified by said schemes are sustainable and produced under the criteria set by the Renewable Energy Directive. The European Commission has claimed that the EU certification scheme is the most stringent of its kind in the world, ensuring that EU biofuels meet the highest environmental standards. However, this article questions these claims and discusses whether the voluntary certification schemes, as the central implementation mechanism for the Renewable Energy Directive, can fully guarantee sustainable biofuels in accordance with the sustainability requirements set in that directive.
© Lexxion Verlagsgesellschaft mbH (12/2012)
The focus of the article is on the practical implementation of the EU Renewable Energy Directive’s sustainability criteria. The article discusses verification of compliance through voluntary certification schemes, one of the three ways in which Member States can enforce their responsibility of requiring economic operators to show compliance with the sustainability criteria. The voluntary certification schemes are tasked with guaranteeing that all biofuels verified by said schemes are sustainable and produced under the criteria set by the Renewable Energy Directive. The European Commission has claimed that the EU certification scheme is the most stringent of its kind in the world, ensuring that EU biofuels meet the highest environmental standards. However, this article questions these claims and discusses whether the voluntary certification schemes, as the central implementation mechanism for the Renewable Energy Directive, can fully guarantee sustainable biofuels in accordance with the sustainability requirements set in that directive.
3. Other Forms of Energy, EQF 3 Premium
© AIRE (Adapting and installing an international vocational training for renewable energy) (1/2012)
Which knowledge, skills and competences does an AIRE specialist need as far as usual forms of energy are concerned?
© AIRE (Adapting and installing an international vocational training for renewable energy) (1/2012)
Which knowledge, skills and competences does an AIRE specialist need as far as usual forms of energy are concerned?
Social Inclusion, Environmental Sustainability, and Brazil’s National Biodiesel Production and Use Policy: The Critical Case of Agropalma
© Lexxion Verlagsgesellschaft mbH (10/2011)
This article examines Brazil’s National Biodiesel Production and Use Policy and its goals of social inclusion and environmental sustainability. This examination explores this transformative development policy through a case study of Agropalma, one of Brazil’s first biodiesel producers and the largest producer of palm oil in the country. Agropalma’s location in the Amazon and its demonstrated commitment to social inclusion and environmental sustainability make it a critical case for evaluating this ambitious development and renewable transportation fuel policy.
© Lexxion Verlagsgesellschaft mbH (10/2011)
This article examines Brazil’s National Biodiesel Production and Use Policy and its goals of social inclusion and environmental sustainability. This examination explores this transformative development policy through a case study of Agropalma, one of Brazil’s first biodiesel producers and the largest producer of palm oil in the country. Agropalma’s location in the Amazon and its demonstrated commitment to social inclusion and environmental sustainability make it a critical case for evaluating this ambitious development and renewable transportation fuel policy.
Liquid Fuel from MSW
© NMC Ltd. (10/2011)
Europe has become more dependent on external energy sources in the last decades. This dependence is more problematic since most of the fossil energy sources are in non-allied countries; moreover there have been conflicts in those countries for a long time now.
© NMC Ltd. (10/2011)
Europe has become more dependent on external energy sources in the last decades. This dependence is more problematic since most of the fossil energy sources are in non-allied countries; moreover there have been conflicts in those countries for a long time now.
Regional-global Linkages in the Energy-Climate-Development Policy Nexus: The Case of Biofuels in the EU Renewable Energy Directive
© Lexxion Verlagsgesellschaft mbH (9/2011)
The European Union’s Renewable Energy Directive aims to accelerate the transition to renewable energy in the Community to support the EU energy policy goals of energy security, sustainability, and competitiveness. At the same time, the Directive – especially in its biofuels components – must also recognise the need for convergence between global and regional policy objectives. Such convergence is seen as necessary in order to align regional energy-economic objectives with global environment and development policies in general and climate policy in particular. In this article, the biofuels components of the Directive are evaluated – particularly the sustainability criteria – in terms of their relation to the EU energy strategy and the resulting effects on energy, climate, and development policy objectives. It is found that the design and implementation of the sustainability criteria weaken the effect of the Directive’s potential impacts on global energy markets and international development objectives, while somewhat strengthening the internal EU market and technology objectives.
© Lexxion Verlagsgesellschaft mbH (9/2011)
The European Union’s Renewable Energy Directive aims to accelerate the transition to renewable energy in the Community to support the EU energy policy goals of energy security, sustainability, and competitiveness. At the same time, the Directive – especially in its biofuels components – must also recognise the need for convergence between global and regional policy objectives. Such convergence is seen as necessary in order to align regional energy-economic objectives with global environment and development policies in general and climate policy in particular. In this article, the biofuels components of the Directive are evaluated – particularly the sustainability criteria – in terms of their relation to the EU energy strategy and the resulting effects on energy, climate, and development policy objectives. It is found that the design and implementation of the sustainability criteria weaken the effect of the Directive’s potential impacts on global energy markets and international development objectives, while somewhat strengthening the internal EU market and technology objectives.
The Environmental Regulation of Biofuels: Limits of the Meta-Standard Approach
© Lexxion Verlagsgesellschaft mbH (5/2011)
The promotion of biofuels as a fossil fuel alternative has been a significant aspect of the global quest for solutions to mitigate climate change. However, the quick-fix has proven to be problematic as food security and environmental concerns emerge.
© Lexxion Verlagsgesellschaft mbH (5/2011)
The promotion of biofuels as a fossil fuel alternative has been a significant aspect of the global quest for solutions to mitigate climate change. However, the quick-fix has proven to be problematic as food security and environmental concerns emerge.
Mechanisms for Driving Sustainability of Biofuels in Developing Countries
© Lexxion Verlagsgesellschaft mbH (10/2010)
The mandatory biofuel blending targets of the European Union (EU) have been influential in the establishment of a global biofuels market, as they are likely to be achieved through importation from areas with high potential for biofuel expansion, predominately parts of Africa, Latin America and Asia. Prospects of economic and rural development, fuel self-sufficiency and improved balance of trade, rather than climate change mitigation, typically attract these countries to biofuel production, despite the potential for extensive socio-economic and environmental impacts.
© Lexxion Verlagsgesellschaft mbH (10/2010)
The mandatory biofuel blending targets of the European Union (EU) have been influential in the establishment of a global biofuels market, as they are likely to be achieved through importation from areas with high potential for biofuel expansion, predominately parts of Africa, Latin America and Asia. Prospects of economic and rural development, fuel self-sufficiency and improved balance of trade, rather than climate change mitigation, typically attract these countries to biofuel production, despite the potential for extensive socio-economic and environmental impacts.
Leadership Challenges: Biofuels and the 2009 Brazilian National Climate Change Policy Act
© Lexxion Verlagsgesellschaft mbH (10/2010)
Brazil has been a world leader in promoting biofuels since the 1970s and throughout the 1980s, reacting at the time to high petroleum prices. During the first decade of the 21st century, with oil prices skyrocketing once again and a strong international consensus about the causes of global warming, biofuels policies in Brazil constitute a viable climate change mitigation tool.
© Lexxion Verlagsgesellschaft mbH (10/2010)
Brazil has been a world leader in promoting biofuels since the 1970s and throughout the 1980s, reacting at the time to high petroleum prices. During the first decade of the 21st century, with oil prices skyrocketing once again and a strong international consensus about the causes of global warming, biofuels policies in Brazil constitute a viable climate change mitigation tool.
Diesel fuels from renewable sources
© Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (6/2009)
There are several problems at the application of plant oils as diesel fuel which had to be overcome (high viscosity, poor low temperature properties, fuel atomisation, tendency for thermal and/or oxidative polymerisation, dilution and degradation of lubricating oil, sticking of piston rings, etc.). The mentioned problems can be solved either by adapting the engine to the fuel (this way seems to be more convenient for automotive industry) or by adapting the fuel to the engine.
© Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (6/2009)
There are several problems at the application of plant oils as diesel fuel which had to be overcome (high viscosity, poor low temperature properties, fuel atomisation, tendency for thermal and/or oxidative polymerisation, dilution and degradation of lubricating oil, sticking of piston rings, etc.). The mentioned problems can be solved either by adapting the engine to the fuel (this way seems to be more convenient for automotive industry) or by adapting the fuel to the engine.
Bio-alcohols based fuels for spark ignition engines
© Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (6/2009)
The European standard EN 228: 2008 allows using max. 5 % V/V of ethanol. Although the content of butanol in fossil petrol is not directly specified by EN 228, for its application there is possibility to use value 10 % V/V of other oxygenates. Nowadays there are also Flexi-Fuel cars with spark ignition engine for application of E85 fuel (approx. 85 % V/V of ethanol plus 15 % V/V of gasoline Super 95). Quality parameters of such fuels are prescribed by the recommendation CWA 15293 and several national standards.
© Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (6/2009)
The European standard EN 228: 2008 allows using max. 5 % V/V of ethanol. Although the content of butanol in fossil petrol is not directly specified by EN 228, for its application there is possibility to use value 10 % V/V of other oxygenates. Nowadays there are also Flexi-Fuel cars with spark ignition engine for application of E85 fuel (approx. 85 % V/V of ethanol plus 15 % V/V of gasoline Super 95). Quality parameters of such fuels are prescribed by the recommendation CWA 15293 and several national standards.
