FuelsEurope welcomes the recognition of renewable fuels and technology neutrality in heavy-duty transport by the European Economic and Social Committee

FuelsEurope welcomes the adoption of the Opinion on the ‘Review of the CO₂ emission standards for heavy-duty vehicles’ by the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) presented by Rapporteur Dirk Bergrath, Head IG Metal Brussels office, and co-rapporteur Alessandro Bartelloni FuelsEurope Director.

Alessandro Bartelloni described the adoption of the Opinion "After months of intense activity in the working group, we have the reward of the approval by the EESC Plenary. An Opinion on decarbonising heavy-duty vehicles while enhancing EU industry’s leadership and competitiveness, security of supply and social rights. Without technology bans."

The Opinion highlights the role of the Fit-for-55 Package, as the cornerstone that “must ensure a life-cycle approach and avoid road transport decarbonisation leading to a shift of emissions upstream in the value chain.”

The EESC “thinks that the proposed regulation based on the tailpipe approach only needs to be complemented by other policy instruments to incentivise the use of renewable, non-fossil fuels for the part of the fleet running on ICE. The Fit-for-55 package must ensure a life-cycle approach and avoid road transport decarbonisation leading to a shift of emissions upstream in the value chain”.

Alessandro Bartelloni furthermore added “The Opinion adopted last week underlines that the resilience of the EU economy would benefit from a diversified technology strategy, with sustainable fuels complementing BEVs and hydrogen vehicles, while these two technologies develop and widen their domestic EU basis, and that the technology-neutral option presents numerous advantages. It would notably mitigate the risks both in technology development and in the security of supply.”

Finally, the ‘Review of the CO₂ emission standards for heavy-duty vehicles’ Opinion highlights that “the methodology distinguishing between linear CO₂ emissions (from fossil fuels) and circular or net-zero emissions (from e-fuels and sustainable biofuels), in a life-cycle context, shows that efficient ICE and hybrid vehicles, fuelled by sustainable biofuels and e-fuels, have a carbon footprint comparable to that of BEVs using fossil-based electricity”.