Sustainable Energy Law Notebook

Klima- og Forurensningsdirektoratet (Klif) har sendt til offentlig høring sitt forslag til forskrift om nye krav til biodrivstoff og fllytende biobrensel. Klif oppsummerer formål med de nye kriteriene på følgende måte:  " De nye kriteriene for bærekrafyig produksjon av biodrivstoff og flytende biobrensel betyr at råstoffet skal være dyrket i et område som ikke er viktig for naturmangfold eller på jordareal med høyt karboninnhold, for eksempel på våtmark ." Vedtagelse av de nye bestemmelsene i direktivet følger vel en hard debatt om bærekraftighet av biodrivstoff og konsekvenser av en økt forespørsel om råvarene, og særlig matvarene, samt produksjons og transformasjonsprosessene (faktisk utslippsreduksjon ned økende krav frem til 50% i 2017).  Dissen kravene følger av EUs direktiv 2009/28/EF , såkalt fornybardirektivet , som ble innlemmet i EØS-avtalen i desember 2011. Det nye direktivet oppdaterer blant annet tidligere forpliktelser fra biodrivtoffdirektivet f...

On 30 March 2011, President Obama hold a speech on energy policy at the Georgetown University in Washington . The speech gives a glimpse over the priorities of its 2012 campaign in the energy fields, few days after he announced his candidacy to re-election. Below follow some quotes. A short assessment The speech is inscribed in the continuity of his previous initiatives (e.g., the Clean Energy Standard ), which does not mean less ambition in terms of renewable energies, but is also pretty realistic as of the use of conventional and unconventional energy sources . While coal is curiously not really mentionned (except clean coal), nuclear energy and shale gas are part of the US energy future depicted by Obama. Oil drilling (onshore and offshore) is not either a taboo. The support to renewable energy sources seems to be endorsed, while the apparent consensus hides that much remains to be done, in particular for a competitive and environmentally friendly use of renewables. The con...

I would like to share with you this Infographic (full size picture here ) forwarded by Ecopolitology , which I thank for the information. It points out the pros and cons of ethanol with regards to cornfields in the light of recent debates in the United States . This allows me to mention that tomorrow, 29 March 2011, is the deadline for submission of responses to the public consultation conducted by the European Commission on the Preparation of a report on additional sustainability measures at EU level for solid and gaseous biomass used in electricity, heating and cooling . Consultation page here . The consultation does not relate to biofuels and bioliquids, but to other energy uses of biomass. It focuses on the necessity to adopt additional sustainability criteria , following the entry into force of Directive 2009/28/EC and the adoption in February 2010 of a Commission's report on sustainability requirements for the use of solid and gaseous biomass sources in electricity, heati...

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. ( Commission Decision 2011/13/EU, JOEU L 9 of 13.01.2011, p.11 ). 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 relate...

The conflict between the European Union (EU) and the United States regarding the situation of dumping created by the US imports of subsidised biodiesel into the EU has just reached another level. In today's Official Journal of the EU (OJ L 211 of 12.8.2010), the Commission has adopted two regulations opening for an investigation regarding the possible circumvention of countervailing measures imposed in 2009 to biodiesel products originating in the United States . Following the adoption of Council Regulation (EC) No. 598/2009 of 7 July 2009, anti-dumping and countervailling measures were adopted on imported biodiesel for a duration of 5 years on the grounds that: " biodiesel, and all blends, [...] produced in the US and exported at subsidised price to the Community had affected the economic situation of the biodiesel producers in the Community " (para. 33). Similarly, and in addition to the fact that " the subsidised import volumes from the USA increased significan...

Two new texts relating to the certification criteria for biofuels and bioliquids have been published in the Official Journal of the EU: Communication (2010/C 160/01) from the Commission on voluntary schemes and default values in the EU biofuels and bioliquids sustainability scheme ; Communication (2010/C 160/02) from the Commission on the practical implementation of the EU biofuels and bioliquids sustainability scheme and on counting rules for biofuels . Reference : OJEU C160 of 19 June 2010 .

The European Commission has adopted on 10 June two Communications and one Decision on the issue of sustainable biofuels certification : Communication on the practical implementation of EU biofuels and bioliquids sustainability scheme and on counting rules for biofuels; Communication on the voluntary schemes and default values in the EU biofuels and bioliquids sustainability scheme; Commission Decision on guidelines for the calculation of land carbon stocks for the purpose of Annex V of Directive 2009/28/EC. A forthcoming post will detail the content of these measures. References : Press release, European Commission, IP/10/711 ; FAQ, European Commission, MEMO/10/247 .