Shipowners challenge green fuels’ inclusion in truck CO2 standards

(EurActiv, 17 Nov 2023) Scarce e-fuels and sustainable biofuels should be reserved for hard-to-decarbonise transport modes such as shipping, rather than going to trucks and buses where electrification is a viable option, shipowners argue.

The European Community of Shipowners’ Association (ECSA), a trade group representing 20 national associations of shipowners from the EU and Norway, issued the statement ahead of a European Parliament vote on Tuesday (21 November) in which lawmakers will decide on new rules to reduce emissions from heavy-duty vehicles.

Under the Parliament’s draft position, as voted on in the assembly’s environment committee, manufacturers would be obliged to reduce average fleet emissions of new heavy-duty vehicle by 45% in 2030, 70% in 2035, and 90% in 2040.

But shipowners are worried about attempts to include an amendment in the text that would see the amount of alternative fuels in Europe’s fuel mix count towards the new CO2 standards.

Under the so-called Carbon Correction Factor (CCF) mechanism, the percentage of the petrol and diesel mix from renewable sources would be deducted from the carbon emissions calculated for new diesel trucks under the CO2 rules.

External link

EurActiv, 17 Nov 2023: Shipowners challenge green fuels’ inclusion in truck CO2 standards