바이오연료의 지속가능성에 관한 EU 법제와 시사점 = EU Legislation on Sustainability criteria for Biofuels and its Implications

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

The revised Renewable Energy Directive (EU) 2018/2001 raised the target share of renewable sources by 14% for road and rail transport by 2030 and set a specific sub-target for advanced biofuels. In addition, to decrease the ratio of high indirect land-use change-risk biofuels to zero by 2030, the legislation introduces new sustainability criteria including regulations on forest biomass and land use, land-use change and forestry(LULUCF). Member States must transpose the new directive into national law by 2021. As required by the directive, the Commission has adopted the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/807, which sets out the criteria for determining high indirect land-use change-risk feedstock and the criteria for certifying low indirect land-use change-risk biofuels.
In fact, some people criticize the Directive because it may violate the WTO rules by hindering certain biofuels from entering the EU market and may be insufficient to tackle climate change. The example of the EU, which proactively legislates and develops the sustainability criteria through continuous scientific studies and discussions, has a significant implication because biofuel, which is a suggested key alternative energy source to reduce greenhouse gas emission in the transport sector, may bring about greenhouse gas emissions associated with land-use changes and negatively affect the accomplishment of other Sustainable Development Goals.
South Korea is promoting the use of biofuels in the transport sector through the Renewable Fuel Standard Program according to the Act on the Promotion of the Development, Use and Diffusion of New and Renewable Energy, but it has not considered that not all biofuels are sustainable. To gain environmental, social, and economic benefits from biofuels, the sustainability criteria should be developed, and policy supports should be limited only to sustainable biofuels. To guarantee the sustainability of the biofuels, a transparent certification system and supervisory procedure are also needed.
From a long-term perspective, further actions to increase the supply must be taken, including raising the blending ratios, extending the types of biofuels subject to the blending, and expanding the blending mandate to other areas besides road transport.