As BBE Board Member Udo Hemmerling emphasised, bioenergy from agriculture and forestry that draws on a wide variety of energy sources does not simply offer remarkable climate protection potential that can be activated immediately for almost all economic sectors; it can also contribute to developing much-needed greenhouse gas sinks or fostering a diverse range of agricultural crops and biodiversity. He commented that the principal objective for the European Commission must therefore be to provide incentives for accelerated climate change mitigation through the guidelines rather than introducing obstacles, “for it is above all time that is in short supply when it comes to attaining the 2030 climate protection targets in just eight years.”
BBE board member Hemmerling points out that consistency between the state aid guidelines and the “Fit for 55” package is vital to achieve the now more ambitious climate and renewable energy targets. That makes it important to examine whether particular provisions in the draft State Aid Guidelines would run counter to these goals, for example, if the check for overcompensation for tax relief for biofuels in agriculture and forestry envisaged in the draft were to call use of these fuels into question rather than promoting it. In contrast, the current draft recast of the Energy Taxation Directive envisages a welcome reduction in taxation for sustainable biofuels. Hemmerling underscored that the European Commission is on the right track here in according Member States the freedom to introduce tax incentives to promote use of biofuels, e.g. in agriculture and forestry, without introducing excessive bureaucracy and without a check for overcompensation that would have triggered uncertainty among biofuel suppliers and users.
The BBE position on the revamped CEEAG can be downloaded here.
About the Bundesverband Bioenergie e.V. (BBE)
The Bundesverband Bioenergie e.V. (BBE) is the umbrella organisation of the German bioenergy industry. In the BBE, the actors along the entire value chain of the biogenic electricity, heat and fuel market are organised: from biomass cultivation and its provision to machinery and plant construction to the planning and operation of bioenergy plants in the different sectors. As the umbrella organisation of the bioenergy sector in Germany, the BBE bundles the interests of over 150 companies and trade associations.
UFOP – Union zur Förderung von Oel- und Proteinpflanzen e.V.
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http://www.ufop.de
UFOP e. V.
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