Vegetal fuel and recycled oil: are biofuels really sustainable?

Introduction

The transport sector is one of the main goals in order to guarantee the track’s feasibility, as it is the only one with increased emissions since 1990, according to data from the European Environment Agency (EEA).

More precisely, European authorities have pointed towards road transport as a key challenge in their roadmap, because cars and vans are responsible for 15% of all CO₂ emissions in the EU, according to data from the European Parliament. 

To achieve the emission reduction, in 2021 the EU proposed a package of climate measures called Fit for 55, which set specific targets for each sector and, in terms of transport, represented a clear commitment to electric vehicles, as pointed out by the President of the European Commission, Ursula Von der Leyen in statements to the press last March. Her appearance closed the second meeting of the ‘Strategic Dialogue’, a meeting point between the Commission and the main players in the automotive industry. A new meeting will be held on Friday 12 September within this framework.

The specific measure targeting road transportation, which has been particularly controversial among the automotive industry and some political parties and Member States, stipulates that from 2035 onwards, only new cars and vans that are ‘zero emissions’ will be allowed on the market. In other words, in ten years’ time, new cars and vans that run on petrol or diesel will no longer be able to be registered in the EU. The regulation states that the average lifespan of these vehicles in the Eurozone is 15 years. It therefore aims to achieve a fully carbon-neutral fleet by 2050.

In an attempt to make the 2035 target more flexible, which some involved countries and the automotive industry see as difficult to achieve, biofuels have entered the debate. Biofuels are a type of fuel that comes from organic matter and is sold under the promise to be more sustainable than oil. They can run on traditional internal combustion engines while, theoretically, reducing emissions, which is why some countries are still calling for them to be included as an exception.

So far, the ban has not taken these appeals into account, although there are European regulations promoting their use and production, especially in maritime and air transport, but also in road transport. This framework, which encourages large companies in the oil sector to include biofuels in their offerings, has led to wide communication, advertising and also misinformation surrounding this type of fuel. The appeals are supported by countries such as Italy and parties such as the European People’s Party (EPP), which defend their ‘sustainability’ in order to include them as an exception to the ban.

A controversial measure

The road to approval of the ban by 2035 has been winding. Back in 2022, when the regulation was still under negotiation, Jens Gieseke, MEP and negotiator for the European People’s Party Group, warned in a statement that it could cause a ‘Havana effect’, filling European streets with ‘vintage cars, because new ones will not be available or affordable’. In the statement, he called for biofuels to be included in the EU’s green future: ‘A voluntary regulation for climate-neutral biofuels and synthetic fuels would have been better in order to preserve technological openness and a certain flexibility for the producers’.

The debate over flexibility reached its peak when the regulation was approved in 2023. At the last minute, Germany secured the addition of an exception for e-fuels, which will allow vehicles running on these synthetic products to be marketed beyond 2035. These fuels are considered carbon-neutral, but are not yet produced on a large scale and are expensive. Biofuels, although negotiated until the end, were left out of the agreement.

Even with the ban approved, the regulation continues to face difficulties. Ursula von der Leyen met with key players in the automotive industry in early 2025 for a ‘Strategic Dialogue’. The session resulted in a statement from the President of the European Parliament acknowledging that there is ‘a clear demand for more flexibility in relation to CO₂ targets’ in the sector. The Commission claimed to have ‘taken note’ of this and committed to ‘addressing this issue in a balanced and equitable manner’. A few months later, in May 2025, the 27 Member States revised the regulation and approved an amendment offering more flexibility to vehicle manufacturers in achieving an interim target of emissions reduction between 2025 and 2027. 

What are biofuels?

Biofuels are products derived directly or indirectly from organic matter of biological origin, also known as biomass. Wood, corn and algae, for example, make up this matter, which, in order to grow, usually absorbs carbon throughout its life cycle through photosynthesis. International organisations such as the United Nations consider biomass to be a common source of renewable energy because it can be produced continuously and is abundant, as opposed to ‘fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas’, which are not renewable energy sources because ‘they take hundreds of millions of years to form’. This is the argument used by European institutions, international agencies and large oil companies to establish that biofuels are therefore also renewable. 

However, this condition is only met if the natural regeneration rates of raw materials are respected in the production of biofuels and if demand does not exceed stocks, explains environmental scientist and science communicator Andreu Escrivà to Verificat. Massive extraction could deplete these natural sources, thus moving away from renewables. Furthermore, as the UN itself warns, ‘bioenergy should only be used in limited applications, given potential negative environmental impacts related to large-scale increases in forest and bioenergy plantations, and resulting deforestation and land-use change’.

On the other hand, these same institutions, agencies and companies include these products as key elements in the path towards net-zero emissions. The argument is based on the fact that when they are burned to produce energy, they release the same carbon that they had previously captured, creating, in theory, a balance between absorption and emission.

However, it should be noted that biofuels not only emit greenhouse gases when burned, but also that the production of raw materials, their conversion into fuel, and their transport and distribution (especially if imported) also have a carbon footprint. In other words, when the entire life cycle of these products is taken into account, their net emissions are not zero.

Taking this entire process into account, Jordi Guilera, a researcher at the Catalonia Institute for Energy Research (IREC) and professor at the University of Barcelona (UB), explains to Verificat that ‘biofuels can reduce emissions by up to 80-85%’. However, depending on the origin of the raw material, emissions can skyrocket, according to the UN. This is particularly true for what are known as first-generation biofuels, which are obtained from cultivable and edible raw materials and are generating widespread controversy. 

A large proportion of the biofuels produced worldwide, especially in Latin America and the United States, fall under this definition because they are produced from cultivated products such as corn, soybeans, palm oil, and sugar cane. If agricultural land is used for this type of biofuel, it reduces the amount of land available for growing food for people or animals, which has a direct impact on food prices, according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). In some cases, forests are even cleared or deforested, as the scientific community has reported in the case of the Amazon in Brazil.

These situations fall under the concept known as indirect land use change (ILUC), which contributes to climate change because it reduces carbon sinks, which are natural areas like forests that absorb this type of greenhouse gas and store the carbon it contains. 

That is why the European Union is in the process of no longer considering first-generation biofuels as a decarbonisation alternative. Although a quarter of those consumed in Spain in the transport sector still come from crops, according to a report by Ecodes, the Ecology and Development Foundation, a non-profit environmental organisation.

The importance of origin in biofuels is such that it constitutes a way of classifying them into four categories, from first to fourth generation: those derived from edible crops, waste, aquatic biomass (such as algae), and synthetic fuels, in that order. However, some experts and sources do not consider the latter to be biofuels, as they are not purely biological in origin, but synthetic.

For now, the EU is committed to second-generation biofuels, which use waste materials such as plant debris and used oil as raw materials. This promotes a more efficient use of resources, and the industry fits them into the circular economy, although this depends on how they are managed. At the moment, they are more expensive to produce than first-generation biofuels, as explained by Guilera, the IREC researcher, who adds that if ‘direct competition is not prohibited, first-generation biofuels could gain ground’.

Right now, in Spain, most second-generation biofuels are produced on Spanish or European land, but a large part of the raw materials used for this come from imports from non-European countries, according to data from the Ministry for the Ecological Transition, something that also occurs at the European level with used cooking oil, according to research by the NGO Transport & Environment (T&E). This makes traceability difficult. Ensuring that its origin is waste and that it therefore meets sustainability standards is complex, Ecodes points out in its report. In fact, in December 2024, T&E reported fraud involving the use of virgin palm oil sold as used oil. 

Advantages and limitations

The positive aspect of biofuels is that they can be used with the existing vehicle fleet and petrol station network. No major changes are required, as they are generally compatible with both current engines and facilities. The electrification of the European vehicle fleet, on the other hand, requires investment in both infrastructure and drivers and depends on batteries with a significant environmental footprint. In other words, they do not have zero impact either. We must ‘take into account the extractivism derived’ from the manufacture of electric vehicles, which could pose a major problem in the future, points out Berta Roset Pérez, PhD candidate at the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (ICTA-UAB), specializing in the social impact of biogas and the energy transition.

Another necessary change involves adapting the road network. In fact, the EU has a specific legislative package to ensure the presence of recharging stations throughout its territory. Specifically, it envisages that by the end of this year there will be an electric recharging point every 60 kilometres on major roads.

Despite these comparative advantages, biofuels have certain limitations, such as low production capacity. The Ecodes report estimates that more than 57 million tonnes of fossil fuels will be consumed in Spain in 2023, while ‘the largest [biofuel] projects in Spain […] estimate up to 3,850,000 tonnes per year [less than 4 million] of biofuel production’. With these figures, Spain’s biofuel supply accounts for only 7% of demand.

In fact, the International Energy Agency (IEA) predicts in a 2024 report that global bioenergy will slow down until 2030 as a result of ‘a lack of public policy support’. The European Court of Auditors, in an audit of EU support for biofuels, seemed to agree with this argument. It stated that ‘the EU’s biofuel policy lacked stability’ and that a clearer ‘long-term strategic approach’ was needed. It also added that ‘sustainability issues, biomass availability and costs are limiting the deployment of biofuels’. 

Roset Pérez, from ICTA-UAB, agrees with some of these approaches. ‘The potential for biogas production is not sufficient for current consumption,’ she says. Her proposal is based on degrowth, which in the automotive sector translates into ‘reducing road transport and promoting public transport’. This trend is completely opposite to what we are seeing today.

Biofuels, electricity, and road transport

The number of cars in the European Union is increasing, a scenario that applies to practically all Member States, according to Eurostat data.

The average age of the fleet is 12.3 years, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA, for its acronym in French), although the figure varies substantially between countries: most of those bordering Russia have cars with an average age of around 15 years. Greece is the most extreme case, with a fleet that is over 17 years old on average. In contrast, in countries at the other end of the spectrum (geographically and economically), such as Austria, Belgium, Denmark and Ireland, the average age is less than ten years.

In this growing car fleet, fossil fuels continue to dominate the market. Only 2% of cars in use in the EU are electric, although their presence is increasing, according to data from the European Alternative Fuels Observatory.

Over 10 million new vehicles were registered in 2024. 1.5 million of them (13%) were fully electric. The rest mainly use petrol or diesel, either in combustion engines or hybrids.

The situation is somewhat more extreme in the case of vans. Electric vehicles account for just over 1% of those in use, and represented 5% of new registrations in 2024.

What about biofuels? Their use cannot be determined based on the type of vehicle engine, because they are used in combustion vehicles. Bioethanol, for example, can be mixed with petrol, and biodiesel with conventional diesel. In fact, hundreds of Spanish petrol stations now offer a mixture of traditional and biofuel.

The 27 Member States implemented regulations to promote the use of this type of bio-based product back in 2009. Specifically, they established that at least 10% of the total fuel consumed in 2020 by each Member State had to be biofuels. However, this target was defined as binding only ‘provided that production is sustainable, second-generation biofuels are commercially available and Directive 98/70/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council […] relating to the quality of petrol and diesel fuels is amended accordingly to allow for appropriate blending levels’.

In 2023, 6.7% of the energy used in road transport in the European Union was provided by biofuels or renewable products, according to the latest data from Eurostat. The rate has remained stable at around 6.5% since 2020.

In 2023, Sweden led the EU (25.9% of the energy consumed by the country in road transport came from renewable sources), followed by Finland (15.7%) and Belgium (9.5%). Spain (6.7%) was on a par with the EU average, while Latvia (1.1%), Croatia and Greece (both 0%) were at the other end of the scale. 

This report was funded by the European Climate Foundation in partnership with the European Fact-Checking and Standards Network (EFCSN).