EC hold second stakeholder workshop on RED II

On 22 March 2021, the European Commission held the second stakeholder workshop on revision to the recast Renewable Energy Directive (RED II), a follow-up to the first workshop on 11 December 2020, which saw over 500 stakeholder groups take part in the event.

The recent stakeholder session was ten hours long, with opening remarks given by EC Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson. The outcomes of the previous stakeholder workshop, as well as the feedback from the Open Public Consultation (OPC) were shared.

Almost 40 000 participants responded to the OPC, with submissions originating from Spain, the Netherlands, Germany and Sweden accounted for 40% of the total. The UK and the US were the most represented non-EU members in the responses.

General consensus views included the need for more ambitious and prescriptive changes to the RED. Transport fuel targets and Guarantee of Origin provisions were also key concerns.

The second stakeholder event included three main sessions covering:

• Renewable energy in transport
• Renewable energy in heating and cooling, buildings and district heating
• Sustainability of forest biomass

All three keys points are particularly relevant to the biogas and biomethane industry, given common usage as a combustion fuel as well as utilising biomass feedstock. The European Biogas Association (EBA) has shared some of their main thoughts on the event.

(full post in EBA link below)

Sources

European Commission

European Biogas Association - RED II post (LinkedIn)