Decarbonising Europe

FETSA’s Ravi Bhatiani explains the main points of the European Commission’s Fit for 55 package In July 2021, the European Commission released a set of policy measures called the Fit for 55 package. This includes mostly legislative measures to prepare the EU to achieve a 55% reduction (compared to 1990 levels) in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. The measures are likely to affect throughput and storage requirements of traditional liquids, particularly those used for transport. The measures are also going to impact how certain products are taxed, such as fuel for shipping and aviation, as well as future fuels such as e-fuels. Overall, it shows the political wish in the EU to end the use of today’s crude oil derived products. The obvious focus is on promoting electrification of road transport, with the clear implications for the products our sector stores. However, there are also clear movements to change maritime and aviation fuel types, towards e-fuels, primarily by altering taxation regimes. WHAT PRECISELY ARE THE MEASURES IN THE PACKAGE? Revision of the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS), including maritime, automotive and the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for...