EU Directive 2009/30/EC states that biofuels may be used to achieve the 6-10 per

cent fuel life cycle GHG emissions reduction initiative, but that any biofuels used to
achieve this goal should represent an energy saving of at least 35 per cent compared
to fossil fuel equivalents. This 35 per cent will increase to 50 per cent from
01/01/2017. From 01/01/2018 this rises to 60 per cent for fuel processing facilities
which have been active for less than a year (i.e. since 01/01/2017).

However, the way this energy saving percentage is carried out is different. Biofuels
are assumed to emit no greenhouse gases during usage (i.e. combustion in an
engine) – so the 35-60 per cent targets are not as severe as they might appear. It is
my understanding that these rules are designed to encourage the use of biofuels,
while making sure that the methods used to obtain them do not end up emitting more
GHG than would have been emitted by using a fossil fuel instead.

From Directive 2009/30/EC:

SAVING = (EF – EB)/EF

where

E =total emissions from the biofuel; and

B
E =total emissions from the fossil fuel
F comparator.

and

Greenhouse gas emissions from the production and use of biofuels shall be
calculated as:
E = eec + el + ep + etd + eu – esca – eccs – eccr – eee

where

e =emissions from the fuel

u in use;

but

Emissions from the fuel in use, eu, shall be taken to be zero for biofuels.