New E.U. clean fuel rules would reduce the greenhouse gases emitted by mining, refining, and transporting petroleum beginning in 2011. The rules do not address controversial proposed limits on average new car emissions requirements.

Credit: iStockphoto

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BRUSSELS: Toughened rules for cleaner vehicle fuels in the European Union were announced today, triggering criticism from the automotive industry.

Under the plans put forward by the E.U.'s executive arm, beginning in 2011 automakers and oil firms will have to reduce emissions by one per cent per year from 2010 levels "from well to wheel" - the entire process from drilling, refining and transporting petrol to garages.

But while the new rules would ensure that fuels themselves would be cleaner, they do not resolve the ongoing debate over strict new laws governing average emissions levels from the vehicles utilising them.

The rules would cut emissions by 500 million tonnes of carbon dioxide by 2020, equivalent to the combined emissions of Spain and Sweden today, according to the Commission.

Diesel fuel for cars will also have to be sulphur-free throughout the European Union beginning in 2009. Also, to enable a higher amount of biofuel use in petrol, a separate petrol blend including up to 10 per cent ethanol would be created.

The E.U.'s new rules must still be approved by the European Parliament and the 27 member states before going into effect. The new fuel standards were announced three weeks after a similar plan was put forward by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in California.

E.U. Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas, of Greece, said the announced measures would "further underpin Europe's shift towards the low-carbon economy that is essential if we are to prevent climate change." However, the Commission delayed for another week an announcement on the hotly debated issue of laws to reduce average carbon dioxide emissions from new cars to 120 grams per kilometre, down from about 160 grams per kilometre currently. The move is strongly opposed by Germany.

The European Commission deems bloc-wide legislation to be the answer as voluntary targets set by industry are not being met. A compromise is being thrashed out between environment commissioner Dimas and his industry counterpart Gunter Verheugen, who is seeking a broader approach that will include factors such as tyre pressure and driving skills in the final emissions formula.

The European Petroleum Industry Association (EUROPIA) slammed the new fuel quality targets as "unachievable". "My biggest objection is that the Commission is adding more and more legislation, trying to regulate something that has already been regulated and setting in that process increasingly unrealistic targets," said EUROPIA Secretary General Peter Tjan.

"As for the CO₂ reduction by one per cent a year progressively to 10 per cent in 2020, there simply won't be enough biofuels to go around to do that."

Environmental groups described the proposals as "one step forward and one step back" in the fight against global climate change. BirdLife International, the European Environment Bureau and Transport and Environment welcomed the E.U. plans to introduce carbon reduction targets for transport fuels but slammed the failure to announce a legally-binding target for car fuel-efficiency following "high-level intervention by the German car industry".

"What we are seeing is mindless scaremongering from the German car industry," said Jos Dings, Transport and Environment director, in a statement. "It is simply wrong that the Commission is preparing to water down an absolutely key element of Europe's climate policy on the basis of the misleading claims of one industry in one country."