EUROPEAN

COMMISSION

M/547
Brussels, 23.3.2016
C(2016) 1582 final

COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING DECISION

of 23.3.2016

on a standardisation request to the European Committee for Standardisation as regards

algae and algae-based products or intermediates in support of the implementation of
Directive 2009/28/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 on
the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources and the Communication
from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic
and Social Committee and the Committee of the regions of 13 February 2012 on
"Innovating for Sustainable Growth: A Bioeconomy for Europe"

ONLY THE ENGLISH, FRENCH AND GERMAN TEXTS ARE AUTHENTIC

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 COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING DECISION

of 23.3.2016

on a standardisation request to the European Committee for Standardisation as regards

algae and algae-based products or intermediates in support of the implementation of
Directive 2009/28/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 on
the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources and the Communication
from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic
and Social Committee and the Committee of the regions of 13 February 2012 on
"Innovating for Sustainable Growth: A Bioeconomy for Europe"

ONLY THE ENGLISH, FRENCH AND GERMAN TEXTS ARE AUTHENTIC

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
Having regard to Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012 of the European Parliament and of the
Council of 25 October 2012 on European standardisation amending Council Directives
89/686/EEC and 93/15/EEC and Directives 94/9/EC, 94/25/EC, 95/16/EC, 97/23/EC,
98/34/EC, 2004/22/EC, 2007/23/EC, 2009/23/EC and 2009/105/EC of the European
Parliament and of the Council and repealing Council Decision 87/95/EEC and Decision No
1673/2006/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council1, and in particular Article 10(1)
thereof,
Whereas:
(1) The implementation of Directive 2009/28/EC2 of the European Parliament and of the
Council of 23 April 2009 on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable
sources and amending and subsequently repealing Directives 2001/77/EC and
2003/30/EC, and in particular its Article 3 defining a mandatory target of at least 20%
share of energy from renewable sources in the Communitys gross final consumption
of energy in 2020 and a mandatory target of at least 10 % of the final consumption of
energy in transport to be achieved by all Member States in 2020, can be supported by
European standardisation.
(2) The implementation of the Fuel Quality Directive" 2009/30/EC3 of the European
Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009, which defines a mandatory target to
achieve a 6% reduction in the greenhouse gas intensity of fuels used in road transport,
can be supported by European standardisation.

1
OJ L 316, 14.11.2012, p. 12
2
Directive 2009/28/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 on the
promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources and amending and subsequently repealing
Directives 2001/77/EC and 2003/30/EC (OJ L 140, 5.6.2009, p. 1662).
3
Directive 2009/30/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 amending
Directive 98/70/EC as regards the specification of petrol, diesel and gas-oil and introducing a
mechanism to monitor and reduce greenhouse gas emissions and amending Council Directive
1999/32/EC as regards the specification of fuel used by inland waterway vessels and repealing Directive
93/12/EEC (OJ L 140, 5.6.2009, p. 88113).

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 (3) The implementation of the objectives of "A Framework Strategy for a Resilient
Energy Union with a Forward-Looking Climate Change Policy" of 25 February 20154
can be supported by European standardisation.
(4) The implementation of the objectives of the "Climate and Energy package" of 22
January 20145 which defines a target at EU level of at least 27% share of renewable
energy consumption by 2030 and a 40% cut in greenhouse gas emissions compared to
1990 levels by 2030, can be supported by European standardisation.
(5) The implementation of the objectives of the Strategy for Innovating for Sustainable
Growth: A Bioeconomy for Europe" of 13 February 20126 can be supported by
European standardisation.
(6) The implementation of Regulation EC No 258/97 concerning novel foods and novel
food ingredients (EC 1997a) can be supported by European standardisation.
(7) The SET Plan7 and the European Industrial Bioenergy Initiative (EIBI) have been
established aiming to promoting the deployment of advanced bioenergy technologies
in the EU in view of achieving the EU targets on renewables and biofuels.
(8) In 2009 the European Algae Biomass Association (EABA) was established aiming at
promoting mutual interchange and cooperation in the field of algae biomass
production and use, including biofuel production.
(9) The use of sustainably produced biomass in energy and non-energy applications, and
in particular the use of bioenergy and bio-based products produced from algae, will
contribute to increase the security of energy supply, the reduction of the emission of
greenhouse gases in the EU and to develop EU technological leadership in low carbon
technologies. Furthemore, aquatic algae or its subproducts are being increasingly used
for food applications in view of achieving the EU targets on food and nutrition
security.
(10) Aquatic algae are among the fastest growing photosynthetic organisms. They produce
oils that can be converted into biodiesel and carbohydrates that can be fermented into
ethanol, while the biomass residue can be used for further energy production (in
combined heat and power applications or synthetic biofuels via gasification and
pyrolysis). Algal biofuels are expected to enter into the markets within 5-8 years.
Besides the generation of energy services algae can make important contribution in
biochemicals, nutrients, pharmaceuticals and biomaterials, thus they address a variety
of services for several sectors of the economy.
(11) The European Commission is funding bioenergy projects under the 7th Framework
programme for Research and Technological Development and the Horizon 2020

4
COM(2015) 80 final Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council,
the European Economic and Social Committee of the regions, the Committee of the Regions and the
European Investment Bank of 25 February 2015 on "A Framework Strategy for a Resilient Energy
Union with a Forward-Looking Climate Change Policy".
5
COM(2014) 15 final Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council,
the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the regions of 22 January 2014 on
"A policy framework for climate and energy in the period from 2020 to 2030".
6
COM(2012) 60 final, Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council,
the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the regions of 13 February 2012
on "Innovating for Sustainable Growth: A Bioeconomy for Europe".
7
COM(2013) 253 final Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council,
the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the regions on "Energy
Technologies and Innovation".

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 programme8. In 2010 three large-scale industry-led projects aimed at demonstrating
the production of algal biofuels along the whole value chain, covering strain selection
to algae cultivation and production, oil extraction, biofuel production and biofuel
testing in transportation applications were supported indicating that algae plantations
are approaching the deployment phase. Their objective is to demonstrate the
production of algae and processing to biofuels in plantations of 10 ha and productivity
of 90 ton dry matter per ha per year. These FP7 projects are InteSusAL, BIOFAT and
All-gas9. In 2013, four industry-led projects focused on the production of high value-
added products such as polymers, pharmaceuticals, high value oils and chemicals,
bioactive compounds, colorants, etc. The potential integration with other processes
(such as the production of biofuels, water treatment or carbon sequestration) and the
valorisation of all products is considered to assure the economic, environmental and
social viability of the whole concept. These FP7 projects are MIRACLES,
BISIGODOS, D-factory and PUFAchain.
(12) Algae as a biofuel feedstock have been studied for decades, but failed to deliver
convincing results for energy and materials systems and attention focused on other
types of energy crops. Recent concerns for issues such as climate change and the
impacts of fuel crops on food production and land use change have broadened the
search for alternative feedstock and renewed the interest in algae. These positive
developments require further information concerning the eventual deployment of algae
plantation in the EU and the development of appropriate voluntary technical
specifications for the proper development of the industry and the well-functioning of
the markets are necessary. These technical specifications should be established not
only in European standards but also, as appropriate, in European standardisation
deliverables to allow faster deployment of the needed specifications.
(13) The intention to request European standardisation in support of Directive 2009/28/EC
is stated in point 2.1 of the annual Union work programme for European
standardisation10.
(14) For the purpose of this standardisation request, the European Committee for
Standardisation (CEN) shall establish appropriate links with relevant European
Technology Platforms such as SusChem, Biofuels, Food4Life, Life Cycle Assessment
(LCA); the Public-Private Partnership SPIRE; the Bio-Based industries JTI; European
research projects developing sustainability assessment approaches such as
PROSUITE, Global-Bio-Pact and LCA2GO, as well as the agreed common
sustainability assessment approach for the biorefinery projects (i.e. EUROBIOREF,
BIOCORE and SUPRABIO).
(15) The Commission has established guidelines for the execution of standardisation
requests and the European standardisation organisations have agreed to apply those
guidelines when executing standardisation requests.
(16) The European standardisation organisations, the European stakeholder organisations
receiving European Union financing and the European Biomass Algae Association
have been consulted. The Member States were consulted in the Horizon 2020
Programme Committee "Secure, clean and efficient energy" and the Horizon 2020
Programme Committee "Food security, sustainable agriculture and forestry, marine,
maritime and inland water research, and the bioeconomy".

8
http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/desktop/en/home.html
9
http://www.algaecluster.eu/
10
COM(2014) 500 final od 30 July 2014

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 (17) The European standardisation organisations have indicated that the work covered by
the request falls entirely under the scope of CEN.
(18) The measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the
Committee established by Article 22 of Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012.
(19) Guidelines for standard developers are available, notably CEN-CENELEC Guide 11
on product information relevant to consumers, which contribute to the successful
execution of the requested standardisation activities.

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1
Requested standardisation activities

The European Committee for Standardisation (CEN) is requested to draft European

standards or European standardisation deliverables in support of the implementation of
Article 3 of Directive 2009/28/EC for algae and algae-based products or intermediates, as
well as the Communication on "Innovating for Sustainable Growth: A Bioeconomy for
Europe", in order to promote energy, bio-based materials and chemicals use from renewable
sources. The requested European standards or European standardisation deliverables are listed
in Table I to Annex II and they shall meet the requirements set out in Annex I.

Article 2
Establishment of the work programme

CEN shall prepare the work programme indicating all requested deliverables, responsible
technical bodies and a timetable for the execution of the work in line with the deadlines set
out in Annex II. CEN shall submit the work programme to the Commission no later than 12
months after the notification of this Decision by the Commission and shall provide access to
an overall project plan to the Commission.
CEN may decide how many European standards and European standardisation deliverables
are needed in order to execute the request referred to in Article 1.

Article 3
Agreement on the work programme

CEN shall follow in its work programme the priorities expressed by the Commission for the
execution of the request referred to in Article 1.
CEN shall inform the Commission on any amendments to the work programme.

Article 4
Reporting

CEN shall report annually to the Commission on the execution of the request referred to in
Article 1.

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 That organisation shall submit to the Commission the first annual report by 15 months after
notification of this Decision by the Commission.
CEN shall provide the Commission with the final report by 60 months after notification of
this standardisation request by the Commission.

Article 5
Validity and repeal

If the request referred to in Article 1 is not accepted by CEN within one month following
its receipt, that request may not constitute a basis for the drafting of European standards or
European standardisation deliverables.
The request referred to in Article 1 may no longer constitute a basis for the drafting of
European standards or European standardisation deliverables once the final report referred to
in the second paragraph of Article 4 has been submitted.

Article 6
Addressee

This Decision is addressed to the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN).

Done at Brussels, 23.3.2016

For the Commission

Miguel ARIAS CAETE
Member of the Commission

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 EUROPEAN
COMMISSION

Brussels, 23.3.2016
C(2016) 1582 final

ANNEXES 1 to 2

ANNEXES

to the

COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING DECISION

on a standardisation request to the European Committee for Standardisation as regards

algae and algae-based products or intermediates in support of the implementation of
Directive 2009/28/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 on
the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources and the Communication
from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic
and Social Committee and the Committee of the regions of 13 February 2012 on
"Innovating for Sustainable Growth: A Bioeconomy for Europe"

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 Annex I
Requirements for the European standards and European standardisation deliverables

1. NEW OR REVISED EUROPEAN STANDARDS AND EUROPEAN STANDARDISATION

DELIVERABLES AS REQUESTED IN ARTICLE 1

CEN is requested, as specified in Table 1 in Annex II, to develop European standards or

European standardisation deliverables on algae and algae-based products or intermediates
where necessary to revise existing standards in order to ensure their applicability to algae and
algae-based products or intermediates.
For the purpose of this standardisation request, algae and algae-based products or
intermediates are defined as algal biomass, algae extracts or purified compounds from algae,
including photoautotrophic, autotrophic, mixotrophic and heterotrophic algae, produced in
open cultivation systems, as for example raceway ponds, lagoons and natural environment,
and produced in closed systems, as for example photobioreactors, fermenters and other
systems.
CEN shall perform the following standardisation work:

I/ SPECIFICATIONS FOR ALGAE-BASED PRODUCTS:

(a) Classification of algae genera
(b) Dry matter
(c) Ash content of primary algal products
(d) Elemental analysis
(e) Chemical/component analysis including:
Lipids
Extractable oils
Carbohydrates
Proteins
Other (anti-oxidant value, microbiological contaminants including
microbial toxins, physical and chemical contaminants).

II/ SPECIFICATIONS FOR QUALITY SPECIFICATION OF ALGAE-BASED PRODUCTS TO BE USED

FOR BIOFUEL PRODUCTION:

(a) Characterisation of algal oils

(b) Characterisation of solid biomass.

III/ SPECIFICATIONS FOR ALGAE PROCESSING:

(a) Measurement of energy input (i.e. light)
(b) Productivity of systems.

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 IV/ SPECIFICATIONS FOR QUALITY CHARACTERISATION OF ALGAL PRODUCTS TO BE USED
FOR NON-ENERGY APPLICATIONS:

(a) For use in the food and feed chains

(b) For use in chemicals/materials chains
(c) For use in cosmetics
(d) For use in pharmaceuticals

V/ SPECIFICATIONS FOR GASEOUS CAPTURE AND SPECIFICATIONS FOR SOLUBLE NUTRIENT

COMPOUNDS FOR ALGAL PRODUCTS:

(a) Definition of CO2 uptake

(b) Definition of nitrogen uptake.

VI/ SPECIFICATIONS FOR SOLID AND LIQUID RESIDUE STREAMS:

(a) Physicochemical characterisation of solid and liquid residue streams
(b) Toxicity of solid and liquid waste output
(c) Gas emissions in relation to climate change and end of life.

2. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE WORK PROGRAMME

Deliverables included in the work programme referred to in Article 2 shall be based on the
analysis of existing national, European and international standards and of other available
technical specifications.
CEN shall examine whether relevant standards and technical specifications related to the
topics mentioned in point "I/ Specifications for algae-based products" already exist, and
whether these existing specifications are applicable to algae and algae-based products or
intermediates in their current form or after appropriate modification. The work programme
shall be then established on the basis of the requirements set out in this standardisation request
and the results of this analysis.
An effective link with the work currently pursued under the standardisation requests M/4301,
M/4912 and M/4923 concerning bio-based products, and especially with the work built upon
the M/492, shall be established.

1
M/430 of 10 October 2008, Mandate addressed to CEN for the development of European standards and
CEN workshop agreements for bio-polymers and bio-lubricants in relation to bio-based product aspects.
2
M/491 of 7 March 2011, Mandate addressed to CEN, CENELEC and ETSI for the development of
European standards and technical specifications and/or technical reports for bio-surfactants and bio-
solvents in relation to bio-based product aspects.
3
M/492 of 7 March 2011, Mandate addressed to CEN, CENELEC AND ETSI for the development of
horizontal European standards and other standardisation deliverables for bio-based products.

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 3. COMMON REQUIREMENTS FOR THE CONTENT OF EUROPEAN STANDARDS AND
EUROPEAN STANDARDISATION DELIVERABLES

The requested European standards and European standardisation deliverables shall be suitable
to support and, when appropriate, to comply with the requirements set out in the Renewable
Energy Directive 2009/28/EC and in particular its Articles 3 and 17 and Annexes I and III,
and the Fuel Quality Directive 2009/30/EU and in particular its Articles 3, 4, 7a, 7b, 7c, 7d
and Annexes I, II and III. Where, during standardisation work, the requested European
standards or European standardisation deliverables may contain possible conflicts with the
requirements of these Directives, CEN shall inform the Commission without delay.
The European standards and European standardisation deliverables shall not include
restrictive requirements that would prevent future standards developments.

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 Annex II
European standards and European standardisation deliverables
and deadlines for adoption

Table 1 Requested European standards or European standardisation deliverables for

algae and algae-based products or intermediates

Reference information Deadline for adoption4

I/ Specifications for algae-based products: 60 months after notification of this

a) Classification of algae genera Decision to the ESOs

b) Dry matter
c) Ash content of primary algal products
d) Elemental analysis
e) Chemical/component analysis including:
Lipids
Extractable oils
Carbohydrates
Proteins
Other (anti-oxidant value, microbiological contaminants
including microbial toxins, physical and chemical
contaminants).

II/ Specifications for quality specification of algae-based 60 months after notification of this
products to be used for biofuel production: Decision to the ESOs
a) Characterisation of algal oils
b) Characterisation of solid biomass.

III/ Specifications for algae processing: 60 months after notification of this

Decision to the ESOs
a) Measurement of energy (light) input
b) Productivity (yield) for system.

IV/Specifications for quality characterisation of algal 60 months after notification of this

products to be used for non-energy applications: Decision to the ESOs
a) For use in the food chain
b) For use in chemicals/materials chains.
c) For use in cosmetics
d) For use in pharmaceuticals

4
Adoption makes reference to the moment when the relevant European standardisation organisation
makes a standard available for its members or to the public.

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 V/ Specifications for gaseous capture and specifications for 60 months after notification of this
soluble nutrient compounds for algae products: Decision to the ESOs
a) Definition of CO2 uptake
b) Definition of nitrogen uptake.

VI/ Specifications of solid and liquid residue streams: 60 months after notification of this
a) Physicochemical characterisation of solid and liquid Decision to the ESOs
residue streams
b) Toxicity of solid and liquid waste output
c) Gas emissions in relation to climate change and end of
life.

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