Europe needs to standardize its requirements for bioadditives for fuels, industry executives said at the European Fuels Conference in Paris.
"There is significant regulatory uncertainty and no consensus on the biofuel pathways to 2020 and urgent action is required," Christian Hoppe, Downstream Policy & Advocacy Manager Europe Shell, said.
He called for development of the road map to "maintain the consumer confidence" and derive realistic solutions between regulators, manufacturers, and industry participants.
His views were echoed by other participants in the conference.
"For 2020, Europe needs clear mandates of biofuels blending rates to avoid market fragmentation," Rodica Faucon, Fuels Expert, Powertrain Engineering Division Renault, said.
European road fuels require up to 10% of biocomponents as part of a broader plan to reduce carbon emissions by 2020.
But the precise percentages of biofuels are set on a country-by-country basis and vary widely across Europe.
There is also no consensus on which biofuel should be used, with the current favorite, fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) challenged by second and third generation fuels.
At the same time, car manufacturers have concerns over the percentage of biofuels in the road fuel mix as a high proportion in the fuel mix of some biofuels can be corrosive to car engines, with most cars currently on the road liable to struggle to cope with further increases in local bio-mandates.
Despite efforts to boost usage, biofuels are a tiny portion of both the aviation jet pool and the heating oil pool.
