Compliance with the Biofuels and Bioliquids Sustainability Criteria: Commission's Decision on the Information to be Submitted by Economic Operators
The European Commission adopted on 12 January a Decision concerning the types of information about biofuels and bioliquids that economic operators have to submit to their Member State to fulfil requirements on sustainability.
Pursuant to Article 18 of Directive 2009/28/EC, and to Article 7c(3) of Directive 98/70/EC, the European Commission must adopt a list of appropriate and relevant information concerning the compliance with the sustainability criteria for bioliquids and biofuels respectively.
Two obligations are defined in the Commission's Decission. First, economic operators "shall" indicate, as part of the information submitted to their Member State, whether the consignment of biofuel or bioliquids has been certified or accepted under a voluntary scheme recognised by the Commission, and indicate the name of the scheme. Under such scheme, particular attention is paid to the accuracy of data related to soil, water and air protection, the restoration of degraded land, the avoidance of excessive water consumption in areas where water is scarce. Second, economic operators must indicate whether: the bonus - granted when biomass is obtained from restored degraded land - has been used in the greenhouse gas (GHG) calculation; and whether the factor for emissions savings from soil carbon accumulation via improved agricultural management has been used in the GHG calculation. Since the information only concerns crop cultivation, the second requirement does not apply to biofuels and bioliquids from waste and residues.
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