L 181 - 2008-09 - Bilag 13: Henvendelse af 11/5-09 fra Greenpeace

NON-PAPER CONCERNING PROPOSAL FOR RES-DIRECTIVE, ARTICLE 3(3):ELECTRIC VEHICLES29 JULY 2008Objective:The objective of the proposed amendment is to ensure that the calculation formula used in the RES-directivefully reflects the target of replacing 10 % fossil oil with renewable energy sources. The present calculationformula does not take into account that renewable electricity used in electric transport technologies replaces3 – 4 times more fossil oil pr. unit of final energy consumed than do bio-fuels.The proposed amendment for Article 3 (3) below seeks to redress this imbalance.Justification:The European Council at the recent June meeting called for the promotion of alternatives to oil-basedtransport technologies singling out electric cars (Art. 39). This underlines the need to ensure that theRenewables Directive is technology neutral at the very least, as this directive will be an important part of theframework conditions for selection of new transport and energy technologies over the next decades.The calculation formula in the present draft directive imply that 1 kWh of renewable electricity used fortransport will be given the same weight as 1 kWh of bio-fuels in the calculation of the fulfilment of the 10 %renewable transport target. The explicit purpose of this target is to replace 10 % of the fossil oil used fortransport. But 1 kWh of renewable electricity used in an electric vehicle replaces 3 – 4 kWh fossil oil,whereas 1 kWh biofuels will replace 1 kWh of fossil oil only. Consequently, the renewable electricityconsumed in electric vehicles should be multiplied by a factor of 3-4, for the purpose of demonstratingfulfilment of the 10 % target.Apart from substituting fossil oil electric transport technologies have a number of other benefits as comparedto fuel based technologies. Seen in the context of renewables in the future EU electricity systems the storagecapacity of electric car batteries can help meeting greater variability in electricity production with increasingshares of electricity from windmills and photovoltaics. The batteries can be charged during periods withhigh renewables production and to some extent discharged during periods with low renewable production.Similarly, electric cars can help to even out other peaks and troughs in electricity consumption andproduction. Batteries can be charged at night-time, when electricity consumption usually is low and mayeven be used to meet consumption peaks during daytime by discharging. Finally, electric cars and otherelectric transport technologies also reduce harmful air-pollutants and noise – not least in cities – helpingMember States in their struggle to meet ever more stringent EU air-quality and noise standards.Proposal:The underlined addition is proposed:Article 3(3)Each Member State shall ensure that the share of energy from renewable sources inall forms oftransport in2020 is at least 10% of final consumption of energy in transport in that Member State. The contribution fromelectricity produced by renewable sources and consumed in electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid vehicles, electrictrains and other electric transport technologies shall be considered to be [three times] the energy content of

the renewable electricity input. The average share of renewable electricity for EU 27 shall be used for thecalculation of the renewable electricity input for electric vehicles in all Member States.In calculating total energy consumed in transport for the purposes of the first subparagraph, petroleumproducts other than petrol and diesel shall not be taken into account.ExplanationThe implication of the proposal for the calculation of the contribution of electric transport technologies to the10 % renewable transport target can be explained by the following example using the 2006 share ofrenewables in EU electricity production:Example:An electric car running 20,000 km in 2006 used 20.000 * 0,115 kWh = 2300 kWh14 % of the electricity delivered in the EU 2006 was produced by renewablesThe final, renewable electricity consumption of that car can be calculated as:(2300 kWh * 3) * (0.14) = 966 kWh

BackgroundThe explicit purpose of article 3(3) is to obtain substitution of the use of fossil petrol and diesel for transportby renewable energy. However, the article does not properly reflect the substitution potential of differentkinds of renewable energy sources if calculated on an energy system basis.An electric vehicle uses less energy to travel a certain distance than a comparable vehicle driven by acombustion engine. A battery-electric passenger car will approximately use 0.100 kWh electricity per km.When including loss of energy connected with battery charges and in the battery the consumption asdelivered from the grid will be 0.115 kWh per km. This compares with a future, average new petrol/dieselpassenger car using approximately 0.455 kWh petrol/diesel/bio-fuel per km assuming the goal of 120 gCO2/km to be achieved in 2012. That is: Electric cars at present drive about 4 times longer pr. final energyunit used. However, to remain conservative and taking into account future improvements of combustionengine technologies a factor of 3 is proposed in the amendment.Some critics of electric cars argue that the superior energy efficiency of electric cars measured in terms offinal energyunits disappears when measured in terms of totalgross energy consumption-that is: Whentaking a total energy system approach. The reason given is that thermal production of electricity entailssignificant losses – with 50-65 % of gross energy inputs being lost. However, this critique is invalid in thiscontext for two reasons:Firstly, according to Article 3 (3) bio-fuels are also to be measured in terms of theirfinal energycontent –not as the gross energy input used to produce them. The production of biofuels in many cases lead tosignificant energy conversion losses as well – for some bio-fuels up to 45 % of gross energy input is lost inthe conversion process.Secondly, the production ofrenewableelectricity has much lower conversion losses than EU thermalelectricity production in general. In 2006 80 % of EU 27 renewable electricity production was based onhydro and wind1, which carry no conversion losses at all. Much of the remaining thermally based production1

came from high-efficiency industrial combined heat and power stations, notably in paper and pulp mills or indistrict heating applications. Forecasts in the Commissions Renewable Energy Road Map (2007) indicatethat the share of renewable electricity production without conversion losses will stay above 75 % till 2020.Conversion losses in renewable electricity production in the EU are and will probably remain small – and nohigher than for most bio-fuel production.In conclusion, electric vehicles retain their superior efficiency compared to combustion engine vehicles runon bio-fuels even when measured in terms ofgross energyinputs using a total energy systems approach.No double-counting as regards 20 % targetUsing the multiplier of 3 when calculating the final energy consumption of electric transport technologies asregards the fulfilment of the 10 % renewable transport target will not result in any double-counting asregards the 20 % renewables target. The proposed amendment does not affect the calculation of the 20 %renewables target at all, as the multiplier will not be used for this calculation. See Annex 1 for further detail.As for the 10 % renewable transport target the triple-counting of renewable electricity used in electrictransport is only made to correctly reflect the related replacement of fossil fuels and hence the realcontribution to the fulfilment of that target.Setting the share of renewable electricityThe amendment suggests that the average share of renewable electricity for EU 27 shall be used for thecalculation of the renewable electricity input in all Member States. That is: If 1/3 of EU electricityproduction comes from renewables this should be the factor used for calculating the final, renewable energyinput to electric transport technologies in all Member States. In 2006 around 14 % of gross EU electricityproduction was based on renewables. This is expected to grow to around 1/3 of EU electricity production in2020.The background for this part of the proposal is the following:The EU 27 electricity grid may – for practical purposes – be seen as one, single grid, as almost all majornational and regional grids are physically connected today. Taking a one-grid approach greatly simplifies thecalculation of how much renewable electricity is used in electric vehicles in the EU.Taking this approach also creates one, single market with similar incentives for electric transporttechnologies in the whole of the EU. This will help to ensure a large and attractive market for car-producers,which need large scale production to make the production of electric cars cheaper. Secondly, it ensures thatelectric vehicles will also be used in large population centres in Central and Southern Europe with little localrenewable electricity production but with extensive air-quality problems.Finally, a one-grid approach avoids difficult discussion on potential differentiation of national renewabletransport targets. The draft directive justifies the common 10 % renewable transport target for all memberstates with the ease of trading and transport of bio-fuels. Conversely, the natural endowment of renewableelectricity resources varies greatly between Member States (notably hydro and wind-resources). If countryspecific shares of renewable electricity were to be used this could spark requests that richly endowedcountries should have higher renewable transport targets.Measuring the electricity consumption of electric vehiclesReliable reporting of electricity consumption of electric vehicles must be ensured, if electric vehicles are tocount against the 10 % renewable transport target – irrespective of whether the proposed amendment isaccepted or not. Electricity use for trains is normally measured and reported with great accuracy. But

electricity use for charging of electric cars will be much more decentralised and potentially difficult to singleout from other electricity use.Denmark remains open as to how reliable reporting should be ensured, but it seems appropriate to link theaccuracy of reporting of consumption to the share of electricity based car-transport:At a share of the overall transport demand for electric cars below 1 - 2 % such calculations could be limitedto statistical estimates. The estimates could be based on the number of cars, their specific electricityconsumption pr. km and the average number of km driven (based on surveys). At higher penetration ratesonly electricity supplied via dedicated charging terminals with separate measurement and reporting ofconsumption should be taken into account. These terminals should at the same time be part of an integratedgrid management system enabling the use of car-batteries in overall grid-management.Other environmental aspectsSome critics fear that electric cars will lead to higher energy consumption and higher overall CO2-emissions.However, this critique does not seem justified for two reasons:Energy consumption: In a well-to-wheels perspective electric cars have much higher energy efficiency thanother alternatives. A recent Danish study put the overall efficiency of electric cars at 30 % today and 37 %expected for 2025 – that is: 30 – 37 % of the gross energy input to electricity production is transformed touseful, mechanical energy. The second highest energy efficiency is achieved by conventional diesel cars atapp. 18 % today and 23 % efficiency expected for 2025. So, replacing oil-based transport with electrictransport will lead to a reduction in total gross energy consumption for transport. Total electricity production,though, will have to increase to meet increased electricity demand. The likely increase in total electricitydemand for transport is expected to be much smaller than the increase in renewable electricity production,though.CO2: At present the average EU emission pr. kWh electricity produced stands at around 420 g/kWh. Thistranslates into an average emission of less than 50 g CO2/km for electric cars charged from the grid. Forcomparison the present, average EU emission of new cars based on fossil oil is around 160 g CO2/km andthe target for 2012 is 120 g/km.Even if it was assumed that electric cars were to be charged exclusively from new, coal-fired power stationswithout CCS the specific emission pr. km will be less than 100 g/km. In addition, the EU Emissions TradingSystem has established a cap over total CO2-emissions from a.o. electricity production. This implies thatincreased electricity consumption and production can not lead to higher CO2-emissions overall.Renewable electricity production carries negligible CO2-emissions only. As most renewable electricity willbe produced inside the EU this production will be covered by comprehensive environmental legislationensuring environmental sustainability.Security of supplyThe security of supply of renewable electricity production is expected to be very high, as almost all of thisproduction will take place within the EU. Annual production of renewable electricity varies, but for the EUas a whole such variations tend to be small. In general, security of supply of all electricity production in theEU is deemed higher than for oil-supply, as the sources of primary energy used for this production are morediversified than for oil-imports.

Possible scenario for the role of electric transport in fulfilling the renewable transport obligationIt is very difficult to predict the possible effect of the proposal on the actual take-up of electricvehicles. Electric passenger cars and plug-in hybrids – which are expected to be the main, newsource of electric transport – are only marketed on a very limited scale today. It remains unknownwhether recent technological advances - especially batteries - will be sufficient to make such carsattractive for consumers.In order to provide some oversight of the numbers involved as regards oil-substitution, totalelectricity consumption, number of electric cars a.o., a possible scenario for the fulfilment of the EURenewable Transport Obligation is provided in Annex 2. The most crucial estimates – on total useof electricity for transport in 2015 and 2020 – are purely speculative. Still, the table indicates thechallenge of meeting a major share of the Renewable Transport Obligation by means of electrictransport – in Annex 2 illustrated by the significant share of electric cars of new car registrationsneeded if electric transport is to meet around half of the 10 % obligation: In the period 2010-15 noless than 11% of new car registrations must be electric cars and 2015-20 no less than 22 %. Annex 2also indicates that total oil-substitution attributable to the introduction of electric cars will be 3times higher than the figure for renewable electricity, as the non-renewable part of the electricityused also replaces fossil oil. Yet, total extra electricity demand for transport in this scenario – 100TWh - is only a fraction of the expected increase in renewable electricity production at 886 TWh.

Calculation of the 10 % renewable transport target: In the electricity scenario the 35 Mtoe biofuelsis replaced by11,67 Mtoe renewable electricity. This amount of renewable electricity will replacearound 35 Mtoe of fossil oil – the same replacement as achieved by 35 Mtoe of bio-fuelsCalculation of the overall 20 % renewables target: In the Electricity Scenario the 35 Mtoe of bio-fuels expected in the Bio-fuels scenario is assumed to be replaced by an additional 11,67 Mtoerenewable electricity and 23.33 Mtoe renewable heat. This specific distribution of the 35 Mtoebeing replaced is just for illustration purposes and could be different.The decisive point is that thetotal amount of renewable energy in 2020 stays the same with the Danish proposal – only thebreakdown on renewable sources will differ compared to a scenario where bio-fuels are usedto fulfil all of the renewable transport target.

Annex 2:Possible scenario for phasing in the EU renewables transport obligation2010EU 27 Transport, diesel & petrol consumption,MtoeRenewable Transport obligation, share of totalpetrol & diesel transportRenewable Transport obligation, MtoeElectricity for transport, TWhOil-substitution by electricity in transport, MtoeEU electricity production, TWhRenewable share of EU electricity productionRenewable electricity, TWhRenewable electricity based oil-substitution,MtoeResidual = biofuels & others, MtoeTotal number of electric cars, mill.EU Stock of passenger cars, mill.Electric cars share of stockAverage share of new car registrations-3170,0412,6896,33624,935680,14500,103,489,200247.720153362020350PRIMES basecase (public road transport, cars, trucks)2010 Biofuels Directive target of 5,75% not achieved, 2015 & 2020 own estimates2010= EEA figure for 2005(http://themes.eea.europa.eu, 2015 & 2020 own estimatesElectricity used for transport multiplied by 3PRIMES basecase2010 PRIMES basecase, 2015 & 2020 Own estimates