The Council of Ministers, at the proposal of the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, has given the green light to a Royal Decree to promote the decarbonization of transport and the use of renewable fuels. The regulation establishes for the first time a comprehensive and stable regulatory framework with a horizon of 2040, defines annual emission reduction trajectories, and promotes alternatives such as electricity and green hydrogen.
In an official note, the Ministry emphasized that with this regulation it aims to give "clear signals to ensure a predictable path, mobilize investment, and accelerate the deployment of renewable fuels, electricity, and renewable origin hydrogen, providing more certainty to all agents in the sector."
The new Royal Decree adds to other government policies to advance in the decarbonization of mobility, such as modal shift, strengthening public transport, or promoting electrification, and focuses on the part of transport that will continue to depend on fuels in each phase of the transition.
The regulation incorporates into Spanish law Directive (EU) 2023/2413, known as DER III, regarding transport. To this end, it sets annual objectives and obligations for the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and the penetration of renewable energy, differentiated according to the fuels supplied to road transport, cabotage navigation, and non-electrified rail, in order to progressively cut the carbon footprint.
In the case of road transport, an annual GHG reduction path is set with a target of 17.6% by 2030 and 30% by 2040. These goals will be supported by emission savings linked to biodiesel and bioethanol, which continue to be regulated by their own specific regulations.
These global objectives are accompanied by minimum sub-objectives for the participation of advanced biofuels, biogas, hydrogen, and non-biological origin fuels (RFNBO), as well as advanced bioalcohols, measured in energy content. Thus, advanced biofuels and biogas, along with RFNBO, must together represent 8% of the fuel by 2030 and 22% by 2040.
In the maritime field, the Royal Decree mainly takes into account the volumes of fuel used in cabotage navigation between Spanish ports, with a GHG reduction pathway that foresees a 9% reduction by 2030 and reaches 33% by 2040, in coordination with the obligations already provided for in the REfuelEU regulation.
For non-electrified rail, a 10% reduction in emissions is set for 2030 and 50% for 2040. In air transport, the objectives of the ReFuelEU Aviation Regulation are assumed, which establishes 6% sustainable fuels by 2030 and 34% by 2040, measured in tons.
Boosting electrification with e-credits
At the same time, the electrification of transport is reinforced through the creation of "e-credits," a mechanism that will allow accounting for the renewable energy consumed by electric vehicles and that could generate additional income for charging point operators.
The regulation also incorporates flexibility tools to meet the objectives, as long as the contribution to decarbonization is equivalent. Thus, for example, the RFNBO used in industry may count towards the specific sub-target for road transport. Non-compliance with the obligations will be considered a very serious infringement, in accordance with the Hydrocarbons Law.
The regulatory scheme is supported by three types of agents. First, the obligated subjects to achieve the objectives, who are those supplying renewable energy to consumers: fuel suppliers for the different modes of transport, such as wholesale operators of petroleum products and LPG in the road sector.
The Ministry emphasized that, with this design, no targets are imposed on end users, but on fuel suppliers, "which ensures their availability for other actors who have European obligations, such as airlines or shipping companies."
The obligations that fall on these suppliers must ensure that the fuels they put on the market reduce emissions, opening the market to new energy vectors such as hydrogen or renewable electricity. By linking the obligation directly to sales, no targets are set on total consumption.
Alongside these obligated subjects, the regulation includes the figure of the enabled subjects —mainly producers of RFNBO and operators of charging points—, who may request certificates of renewable fuels and market them to the obligated subjects to facilitate the achievement of their emission reduction objectives.
Finally, there will be obligated subjects to send information for statistical purposes about the electricity and fuels consumed in their facilities, such as the administrators of railway infrastructures.
The Royal Decree also defines the sustainability requirements of the RFNBO and the rest of the fuels, with the aim of providing greater guarantees to consumers and avoiding misleading advertising practices. To this end, the control and certification systems already applicable to bioethanol and biodiesel are reinforced, extending them to the entire set of renewable fuels.
A new National Sustainability Verification System is also being launched, which covers all phases of the value chain, from origin to marketing, with a traceability mechanism parallel to the voluntary regimes recognized by the EU.
In order to give visibility to the advances in decarbonization, the regulation provides for recognizing each year the agents who achieve certifying the largest volume of renewable energy in transport, through distinctive seals of "leader in energy transition".