Cut greenhouse gas emissions by 2% a year from 2012 to 2020
In adopting a report drawn up by Dorette Corbey (PES, NL), MEPs in the committee agree with the Commission's proposal for mandatory monitoring and reporting of the greenhouse gas emissions produced by fuels throughout their life-cycle (i.e. in production, transport and use). They welcome the obligation for fuel suppliers to cut these emissions by 10 % by 2020, so as prevent some 500 million tonnes of CO2 from being released into the atmosphere. But to introduce more flexibility, a committee amendment nonetheless says that CO2 emissions should be reduced by at least 2 % every two years from 2012 to 2020, and rather than by 1 % per year from 2011 as proposed by the Commission.
Sustainable biofuels
To ensure that the CO2 reduction obligation does not lead to unsustainable production of biofuels, the committee inserted amendments guaranteeing that only biofuels that meet production sustainability criteria are used.
Air quality: bring forward introduction of low-sulphur fuels
MEPs in the committee agree that from 1 January 2009 diesel may contain no more than 10 mg/kg of sulphur. Furthermore they want to guarantee that the sulphur content in gas oil for non-road vehicles and inland waterway vessels is reduced to 10 mg/kg by 31 December 2009, rather than 31 December 2011, as proposed by Commission. To reduce emissions of damaging polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PACs) in diesel to the absolute minimum, members want to cut their permitted content from 10 % to 6%, rather than to 8 %, as proposed by the Commission.
