POTENTIAL FOR SUSTAINABLE BIOFUEL PRODUCTION IN HUNGARY BASED ON THE RESULTS OF THE BIKE PROJECT

Takács, Eszter – Mozsgai, Katalin – Óvári, Csilla – Gerencsér, Ilona – Miskó, Krisztina – Szlatényi,

Keywords: Indirect Land Use Change (ILUC); biomass production; additionality measures; certification; RED II JEL: Q15, Q16, Q24

One of the European Union’s strategic objectives is to increase renewable energy production, which has become even more important because of its links with the climate policy objectives and the energy crisis caused by the outbreak of the war between Russia and Ukraine. In the case of plant-based biofuels the EU acknowledges that increased production of plant-based biomass for energy purposes could threaten food security and increase greenhouse gas emissions. To protect itself against these risks, the Union strives to create the right regulatory environment and supports research projects to find pragmatic solutions. One potential way to meet the additional demand for biofuel feedstock is to exploit the potential of low indirect land-use change (ILUC) risk biomass feedstock production. The research conducted in the BIKE project aimed at mapping potential target areas for energy crops (including the assessment of processing capacity), the range of crops that could be grown on marginal lands and the potential for yield enhancement. The EU favours under the RED II directive and its low ILUC-risk Delegated Act the increased use of advanced biofuels in the transport sector and for conventional biofuels, it prefers the use of feedstocks identified as low ILUC-risk feedstocks. It also sets out production and other economic conditions for producers to ensure low-risk and sustainable production of biofuel feedstocks. The Union’s market intervention logic is that through these regulations, market actors will be willing to pay a "market premium" to farmers to produce biofuel feedstocks of the required quantity and quality sustainably. Achieving the EU's strategic objectives will depend on how the new emerging regulatory environment can be effectively translated into farmers' practices.
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