Assessment of the potential for new feedstocks for the production of advanced biofuels (Renewable Energy Directive – Annex IX)

The European Commission (DG ENER) awarded Tender ENER/C1/2019-412 to a consortium composed of E4tech (Lead), Cerulogy, the ICCT, Navigant, SCS Global Services and Wageningen University & Research. The objective of this project is to assist the European Commission in the evaluation of biofuel feedstocks, which could be added to Annex IX of the Recast of the Renewable Energy Directive (EU 2018/2001), also known as “RED II”, following the process described in Article 28 of the Directive.

The project was divided into three Tasks:

1) Task 1 established a long list of potential biofuel feedstocks for inclusion in Annex IX and conducted a preliminary assessment of these feedstocks to produce a short list for further assessment. The long list and preliminary assessment were based on the consortium’s expertise, a literature review and the present stakeholder consultation. The final selection of the shortlist of feedstocks for consideration under Task 2 was made by the Commission.

2) Task 2 assessed in detail each feedstock in the short list against the eligibility criteria described in Article (28) of RED II. The consortium provided the European Commission with its conclusions with regards to whether each feedstock in the long list complies with the eligibility criteria.

3) In addition to the in-depth assessment conducted in Task 2, Task 3 looked specifically at the risk of fraud associated with support for the use of new and existing Annex IX feedstocks. Informed by consideration of documented cases of fraud, the consortium established a set of fraud risk indicators, and considered options available to mitigate identified fraud risks.

The finalised short list of feedstocks from Task 1 is available here. This document summarises the selection process undertaken in Task 1 (Note that the shortlist was slightly adjusted during Task 2 and Task 3). Results from Task 1 were presented in a webinar on the 16th of September 2020. The webinar slides can be downloaded from here. 

Task 2 and Task 3 were undertaken between October 2020 and September 2021. The final report was delivered to DG ENER on December 06, 2022 and is available here. 

If you have any questions, please contact  Consultation-AnnexIX@e4tech.com