Neste Corporation Press Release 30 November 2016 at 2:30 pm (EET)
The proposed Renewable Energy Directive for 2021 through 2030 by the European Commission introduces aviation and marine sectors to contribute to the climate effort
European Commission has today published its proposal on the revised Renewable Energy Directive for the years 2021 through 2030. Neste welcomes EU's continuing commitment to long-term policies and ambitious climate targets. The goal of the Directive is to increase the proportion of renewable energy in Europe to 27 percent by 2030. The proposal will next be considered by the European Council and the European Parliament.
The use of renewable energy in transport effectively reduces global climate emissions. Neste Renewable Diesel , for example, cuts carbon emissions by up to 90 percent over its lifecycle when compared to conventional fossil diesel.
Obligatory blending mandate for fuels suppliers; aviation and marine sectors welcomed to contribute
In its proposal, the European Commission introduces an obligatory mandate for transport fuels suppliers to include a minimum share of advanced biofuels in their offering. The required percentage level shall increase steadily from year 2021 to 2030. From Neste's perspective, the Commission's proposal would secure the necessary predictability for the companies to continue the long-term planning of their operations and investments.
What Neste considers a particularly good thing is that for the first time, the blending mandate regarding biofuels could also be met with renewable solutions used within the aviation and marine sectors . Neste already has full capability to support sustainable and carbon neutral growth within these industries with the company's renewable fuel solutions.
Directive proposal accelerates the development of raw materials
The role of biofuels in the fast reduction of transport-related climate emissions is crucially important. Transport-related emissions can most effectively be reduced by using renewable fuels produced from wastes and residues. Thanks to years of development efforts, already some 80 percent of the renewable raw materials that the company uses comprise of waste and residues . Also the Commission favors the use of waste and residues.
"As a whole, the Commission's proposal consists of good propositions that support biofuels use and development in Europe. Neste wants to continue the discussions on enabling the industry to use as wide raw material portfolio as possible. This is likely to be brought up in the further work on the proposal. Neste's advantage is that its production technology is flexible in terms of raw materials. Compared to other players within the biofuels industry, we already have an exceptionally wide raw material portfolio ," says Kaisa Hietala, Executive Vice President of Neste's Renewable Products business area.
Neste believes that the development of raw materials within the biofuels industry will continue to accelerate. Neste's itself spends nearly 70 percent of its annual R&D expenditure annually on research into renewable raw materials, refining technologies, as well as research and development of its renewable products . The company focuses on researching even lower quality wastes and residues and views, for example, algae oil to have great potential as a future raw material. Yet the utilization of new raw materials will require continuous research and technology development in order to find cost-effective future solutions. The continuous efforts into R&D are best supported at the EU level if the legislation in this area aims at being as raw material and technology-neutral as possible.
Neste Corporation Osmo Kammonen SVP, Communications and Brand Marketing Further information Ilkka Räsänen, Director, Public Affairs, Neste, tel. +358 50 458 5123, ilkka.j.rasanen(@)neste.com Read also:
Increasing Renewable Fuel Volumes included in US EPA's 2017 renewable volume final rule Neste in brief Neste (NESTE, Nasdaq Helsinki) creates sustainable choices for the needs of transport, businesses and consumers. Our global range of products and services allows customers to lower their carbon footprint by combining high-quality renewable products and oil products to tailor-made service solutions. We are the world's largest producer of renewable diesel refined from waste and residues, and we are also bringing renewable solutions to the aviation and plastics industries. We want to be a reliable partner, whose expertise, R&D and sustainable practices are widely respected. In 2015, Neste's net sales stood at EUR 11 billion, and we were on the Global 100 list of the 100 most sustainable companies in the world. Read more: neste.com/en
