The Portuguese Association of Biofuel Producers (APPB) defended this Thursday the increase from two to three percentage points of the objective of incorporating biofuels in gasoline and diesel for road use, currently 11%, in the General State Budgets for 2023 .
The national producers of biofuels consider that there are conditions for the short-term reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in road transport and that Portugal can save up to one million tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year”, he began by stating the APPB, in a statement.
For this, he defended, “it is necessary for Portugal to follow the recommendation of the European Union and increase the levels of real incorporation of biofuels in the supply of cars and buses”.
Questioned by Lusa, the APPB said that, “being realistic, what would be desirable would be an increase of 2 to 3 percentage points“, considering that, currently, the national goal for the incorporation of biofuels in gasoline and diesel for road use is 11% in energy content.
However, the association also highlighted that “there is a clear margin of evolution in relation to the actual incorporation quota registered in 2021”.
According to an analysis by the APPB, based on figures from the Tax Agency and the National Civil Engineering Laboratory (LNEC), the actual incorporation, in 2021, “was around 6%, due to the high, but essential, content of waste materials used in their production and that benefit from double counting for measurement purposes”.
The association recalled the notification sent by the European Commission in May, due to the lack of transposition by the Government of the Red II Directive, which increases the rates of incorporation of biofuels as an ecological alternative to fossil fuels.
“There is still significant potential to reduce emissions. through greater physical incorporation of biofuels“, pointed out the general secretary of the APPB, Jaime Braga, quoted in the note sent to the media.
The head of the association also stated that “without the substitution of fossil fuels for biofuels, some 780,000 more tons of CO² would have been emitted. [dióxido de carbono] in Portugal, in just one year”.
Source: Observadora
