A new report suggests that prioritizing e-fuels over biofuels would be more beneficial for biodiversity. E-fuels, produced using renewable energy, have a lower environmental impact compared to biofuels, which often require significant land and water resources. By focusing on e-fuels, the EU can better align its energy strategy with its biodiversity goals, reports Sasha Coalition.
Main Alternative Fuels
As the world convenes today at COP29’s Nature and Biodiversity Day, new research from the SASHA Coalition reveals the true extent of the impact different alternative fuels for shipping and aviation have on our planet’s health. This new report, Fuelling Nature: how e-fuels Can Mitigate Biodiversity Risk in EU aviation and Maritime Policy, follows an important development during week one at COP29, where the presidency launched the Hydrogen Declaration to catalyze a global clean hydrogen market.
The new report looks at scenarios considering the four main alternative fuels for planes and ships (e-fuels made from green hydrogen produced with renewable energy, biofuels from crops, biofuels from residue and water, and biofuels from oils and fats) and finds that in all scenarios using biofuels would put greater stress on biodiversity stabilization and recovery. This is set to get worse over time, and by 2050, the goals of the Nature Restoration Regulation could be completely undermined.
In contrast, prioritizing e-fuels made from green hydrogen produced with renewable energy, which already have the greatest emissions reduction potential, would reduce pressure on natural habitats and land demand, and better support the EU’s long-term biodiversity strategy. E-fuels are the only potential alternative fuels for the shipping and aviation sectors that would reduce pressure on natural habitats and land demand, and which are compatible with meeting the EU’s biodiversity targets.
The rapid expansion of alternative fuel production will be critical to meet the EU’s decarbonization goals for aviation and shipping under the ReFuelEU Aviation and FuelEU Maritime regulations. The EU has set goals to replace 70% of fossil jet fuel with lower GHG-intensity alternatives and to reduce the GHG intensity of maritime energy use by 80%, by 2050. While these goals are crucial, there is also an urgent need to balance the EU’s decarbonization targets for aviation and maritime sectors with its goals on biodiversity.
Policy Recommendations
The report lays out the following five key policy recommendations to ensure we decarbonize the shipping and aviation sectors while preserving biodiversity. It recognizes that while e-fuels are more compatible with biodiversity preservation than biofuels, a certain level of biofuel use will be needed to meet aviation and shipping demand in the transition. Therefore, biofuel production, when necessary, must be conducted in line with measures to protect biodiversity.
- Invest in e-fuels: Create the enabling environment to increase investment in and adoption of e-fuels. This will in turn, lead to more public and private investment in renewable electricity generation and e-fuel infrastructure.
- Monitor soil health: Monitoring and managing soil carbon will ensure the sustainability of bioenergy production where necessary and support broader climate and biodiversity goals as soils are the largest terrestrial carbon store, and support 25% of biodiversity. The EU’s proposed soil monitoring law must align with renewable energy targets by encouraging Member States to adopt forest and agricultural residue removal thresholds for key soil types.
- Recognise and prioritize the value of using land for preserving biodiversity: Develop assessments to help stakeholders understand the biodiversity values and ecological functions of lands before conversion to biofuel production.
- Promote biodiversity in agricultural practice: Areas and features such as patches of semi-natural habitat, fallow land, native trees, hedgerows and ponds are essential for supporting biodiversity within agricultural landscapes, serving as refuges for wildlife, enhancing habitat connectivity, and providing ecosystem services such as pollination, natural pest control, and water purification. These should be maintained as Ecological Focus Areas (EFAs) or under other agri-environmental measures of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). This should include strategies such as guidelines for biodiversity-friendly mixed energy cropping, agroforestry, and adaptive management, to enhance biodiversity preservation.
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Source: Sasha Coalition
