Skip to main content
Climate Action
News article19 November 2020Directorate-General for Climate Action

Further action required to meet 2020 fuel quality targets despite 3.7% drop in greenhouse gas intensity since 2010

The Commission today adopted its 2018 Fuel Quality Report based on the data submitted by EU countries. According to the data provided, the average greenhouse gas intensity of fuels in the 28 reporting Member States had fallen by 3.7% compared to the.

20180206.jpg

The Commission today adopted its 2018 Fuel Quality Report based on the data submitted by EU countries. According to the data provided, the average greenhouse gas intensity of fuels in the 28 reporting Member States had fallen by 3.7% compared to the 2010 baseline. The year-on-year progress achieved compared to 2017 was limited to a 0.3% decrease. Progress varied greatly across Member States, but almost all need to take swift action to meet the 2020 target of 6%.

The Fuel Quality Directive requires Member States to reduce the GHG intensity of transport fuels by a minimum of 6% by 2020 compared to 2010. Moreover, the Directive sets strict quality requirements for fuels used in road transport in the EU to protect human health and the environment, and to make road travel across the EU safer.

In 2018, fossil fuels made up the vast majority of the total fuel supply, with diesel dominating in most EU countries. Meanwhile, biofuels accounted for 5.2 % of total 2018 fuel supply. All diesel sold in the EU was marketed as containing percentages of biodiesel by volume and over 90% of petrol was marketed with percentages of bioethanol.

Overall, there is a high level of compliance with the quality limits in the EU, and the very large majority of key fuel parameters in the 2018 samples were reported to be within the tolerance limits. All Member States also reported on the actions taken when non-compliant samples were identified.

Further information

Details

Publication date
19 November 2020
Author
Directorate-General for Climate Action