EWABA welcomes inclusion of new feedstocks for biofuel production but rejects extra incentives for aviation

The EWABA association has welcomed the long-awaited inclusion of additional feedstocks in Annex IX of the Renewable Energy Directive (RED).
This feedstock expansion will generally broaden the availability of waste-based and advanced biofuels for all transport modes and alleviate part of the pressure on some feedstocks used to produce waste-based biofuels, which have been subject to a high degree of focus.
EWABA members would like to highlight that the introduction of intermediate/cover crops for the supply of fuels exclusively for the aviation industry in part A of Annex IX will have negative consequences as it interferes with the level-playing field across sectors and challenges the principle of technology neutrality, a crucial pillar for investment certainty.
EWABA beieves that the extra incentive for intermediate/cover crops will direct them towards the aviation industry to the detriment of their use in other hard to decarbonize sectors, such as heavy-duty road and especially the maritime sector.
Given the extremely significant potential availability of the new feedstocks populating the Annex IX[1] the association expects the European Commission to issue without delay a separate delegated act eliminating the Annex IX Part B limitation, which goes against the feedstock expansion proposed under the revised list.
“Broadening the feedstock base for biofuels production is in itself positive news. The revision will hopefully reduce the pressure felt by the whole industry by the significant demand of waste-derived feedstocks. The last-minute addition of intermediate/cover crops only for aviation in part A is very surprising and has strongly unsettled many of our members who see a clear discrimination against other transport sectors,” EWABA secretary general Angel Alvarez Alberdi said.