The Renewable Energy Directive
The Renewable Energy Directive 2009/28/EC, which came into force in 2010, requires member states to promote the use of renewable energy in all forms of transport, not just road vehicles i.e. the requirements have been extended to ships, trains and aircraft. The RED re-emphasises the importance of energy efficiency and highlights the need for biomass fuels to be sourced in a sustainable manner. Mandatory targets for energy from renewable sources are reinforced to provide long term stability for the business community and “national renewable energy action plans” with their associated “economic support schemes” remain central tools for driving down carbon emissions. Member states are encouraged to diversify the mix of energy from renewable sources in all transport sectors. B9 Ships provide the marine surface transport sector with an innovative combination of wind and biogas. Indeed, Article 21 of the directive places a particular emphasis on 2nd generation biofuels allowing their use to make a double contribution to compliance with renewable energy obligations and national targets. The exact wording of Article 21.2 is as follows…
“For the purposes of demonstrating compliance with national renewable energy obligations placed on operators and the target for the use of energy from renewable sources in all forms of transport referred to in Article 3(4), the contribution made by biofuels produced from wastes, residues, non-food cellulosic material, and ligno-cellulosic material shall be considered to be twice that made by other biofuels.”
The main purpose of this additional market support is to ensure that biofuel companies concentrate on using feedstocks from organic waste streams and non-food sources rather than relying on energy crops grown on farm land. A second purpose is to accelerate the diversion of organic wastes away from landfill sites so that this serious source of GHG emissions can be more rapidly reduced. The RED therefore supports the Landfill Directive which will ultimately ban all organic waste from being dumped in landfill sites.
Article 3(4) of the RED referred to above, which sets out that the share of energy from renewable sources in all forms of transport in 2020 is to be at least 10% of the final consumption of energy in transport, allows non road and rail consumption of biogas to make a disproportionately high contribution to the achievement of the target, i.e. biogas consumption in shipping only appears in the numerator and not the denominator of the calculation.
The following diagram serves to illustrate this…
These strong incentives to use biogas in shipping are not necessarily at variance with the automotive sector in the UK since we lack a well developed infrastructure for gaseous road transport fuels.
Finally, a remarkable and perhaps unique implication in the case of wind assisted vessels including sailing ships is that the same disproportionately high contribution described above can also be claimed for wind power because Article 3.4b states that all types of energy from renewable sources consumed in all forms of transport shall be taken into account.
It is therefore safe to say that the B9 Ship concept of deploying renewables in the non road and rail sector, of utilising 2nd generation biogas, which avoids methane emissions from landfills, and of using the offshore wind resource to minimise the consumption of biogas has the ability to capture many of the key novel intentions of the Renewable Energy Directive.
The Renewable Energy Directive
The Renewable Energy Directive 2009/28/EC, which came into force in 2010, requires member states to promote the use of renewable energy in all forms of transport, not just road vehicles i.e. the requirements have been extended to ships, trains and aircraft. The RED re-emphasises the importance of energy efficiency and highlights the need for biomass fuels to be sourced in a sustainable manner. Mandatory targets for energy from renewable sources are reinforced to provide long term stability for the business community and “national renewable energy action plans” with their associated “economic support schemes” remain central tools for driving down carbon emissions. Member states are encouraged to diversify the mix of energy from renewable sources in all transport sectors. B9 Ships provide the marine surface transport sector with an innovative combination of wind and biogas. Indeed, Article 21 of the directive places a particular emphasis on 2nd generation biofuels allowing their use to make a double contribution to compliance with renewable energy obligations and national targets. The exact wording of Article 21.2 is as follows…
“For the purposes of demonstrating compliance with national renewable energy obligations placed on operators and the target for the use of energy from renewable sources in all forms of transport referred to in Article 3(4), the contribution made by biofuels produced from wastes, residues, non-food cellulosic material, and ligno-cellulosic material shall be considered to be twice that made by other biofuels.”
The main purpose of this additional market support is to ensure that biofuel companies concentrate on using feedstocks from organic waste streams and non-food sources rather than relying on energy crops grown on farm land. A second purpose is to accelerate the diversion of organic wastes away from landfill sites so that this serious source of GHG emissions can be more rapidly reduced. The RED therefore supports the Landfill Directive which will ultimately ban all organic waste from being dumped in landfill sites.
Article 3(4) of the RED referred to above, which sets out that the share of energy from renewable sources in all forms of transport in 2020 is to be at least 10% of the final consumption of energy in transport, allows non road and rail consumption of biogas to make a disproportionately high contribution to the achievement of the target, i.e. biogas consumption in shipping only appears in the numerator and not the denominator of the calculation.
The following diagram serves to illustrate this…
These strong incentives to use biogas in shipping are not necessarily at variance with the automotive sector in the UK since we lack a well developed infrastructure for gaseous road transport fuels.
Finally, a remarkable and perhaps unique implication in the case of wind assisted vessels including sailing ships is that the same disproportionately high contribution described above can also be claimed for wind power because Article 3.4b states that all types of energy from renewable sources consumed in all forms of transport shall be taken into account.
It is therefore safe to say that the B9 Ship concept of deploying renewables in the non road and rail sector, of utilising 2nd generation biogas, which avoids methane emissions from landfills, and of using the offshore wind resource to minimise the consumption of biogas has the ability to capture many of the key novel intentions of the Renewable Energy Directive.