Energy Systems and Technologies for the Coming Century ...

aimed to promote agriculture-based biofuels in the European Communities. It was,however, not adopted by the European Council. 8While the Scrievener directive was the first proposal into a community-level policyfor biofuels, the first adopted directive which effectively created a coordinatedEuropean effort for biofuels came only 11 years later, in form of the 2003 biofuelsdirective (2003/30/EC). The new directive promoted an incremental adoption ofbiofuels towards a reference target of 5.75% of final consumption of the transportsector by 2010. Altough non-mandatory, the targets contained in the 2003 directivefor the first time pushed for biofuel utilization goals, aiming at 2% (in energy content)for all petrol and diesel for transport in the EU by 2005, to be increased in yearly stepsof 0.75% until a reference goal of 5.75% by 2010 (EC, 2003b).In order to achieve the proposed targets introduced by the biofuels directive, theEuropean Council adopted in November 2003 a directive on energy taxation(2003/96/EC), providing memberstates with regulatory discretion to use tax policy,pending EC approval, to foster the penetration of biofuels in their markets (EC,2003c). As pointed out by Kutas et al (2007 p. 19), by 2007 sixteen EU memberstatesapplied for permission to introduce tax relief to biofuels, the majority in form ofexcise tax exemptions proportional to blending levels.Still in 2003, the EU adopted a reform of the CAP, which decoupled supportpayments from specific crops, and adopted a special energy crop subsidy of €45/ha upto a limit of 2 million ha, or a maximum subsidy of 90 million Euros.It became increasingly clear that sourcing large part of the required feedstock forbiofuels within the EU borders would be no easy nor cheap task. In late 2005 theCommission adopted a communication on biomass action plans which primarilyfocused on surveying bioenergy potentials among EU member states for solid andliquid biofuels. 9 This was important, as envisioned second-generation biofuels wouldbe much more dependent on lignocellulosic souces (e.g. wood) than conventionalstarch, vegetable oil and sugar-based biofuels. Shortly thereafter, in 2006 theEuropean Commission published a communication specifically announcing itsstrategy for biofuels, which contained a clear emphasis on technological innovationand promoting energy security, complementing the well-known environmental goalsof the policy. 10Following the communication on a European biofuels strategy, in early 2007 theEuropean Commission attempted to harmonize the multiple fronts of its conventionaland renewable energy initiatives. In face of slow progress by memberstates in meetingthe indicative targets of directive 2003/30/EC, it became clear that the approachtowards biofuels needed to be restructured. The result was a communication entitledAn Energy Policy for Europe, which was the basis for major regulatory initiatives inthe subsequent years. 112009 renewable energy directive and future directions8 COM(1992) 369 COM (2005) 628 final.10 COM (2006) 34 final.11 COM (2007) 1 final.Risø International Energy Conference 2011 Proceedings Page 270