Developing a Transnational Biofuels Refueling Infrastructure: EU Biofuels Corridors

Abstract

This article outlines issues to be tackled when considering increases in biofuel usage in the European Union (EU) and examines a potential scheme to increase the use of biofuels in the road transport sector; the development of biofuels corridors. An EU biofuels corridor is defined as a long-distance and cross-border route on the Trans-European Transport (TEN-T) Network roads on which blends with a high biofuel content (referred to as high blends) are offered at regular intervals along the entire route. The article first defines the current framework of EU biofuels development. A case study on the feasibility of one possible EU biofuels corridor, from Rotterdam, Netherlands, to Constanta, Romania, is analyzed along four potential biofuels corridor designs (under different future scenarios). The case study includes interviews with key stakeholders, transport flows analysis, refueling infrastructure, and biofuels policy in the relevant member states. The results are extrapolated to the complete EU level in order to assess the potential effect of the biofuels corridor approach as a measure of stimulating the use of biofuels. It is concluded that EU biofuels corridors can increase the use of biofuels. However, if applied as a stand-alone measure a maximum contribution is limited. The effectiveness of biofuels corridors is not larger mainly due to the fact that the transport flows on the TEN-T Network roads are not representative of actual fuel sales at stations on this network (i.e., motorway stations). In addition, various recommendations are made for further research.