Promotion of biofuels and other renewable fuels (ORDER ITC/2877/2008)

Source: JOIN IEA/IRENA Policy and Measures Database
Last updated: 2 May 2017

Wholesale and retail operators of fuels, as well as consumers of fuels not supplied by wholesale or retail operators, are obliged to sell / consume a minimal quota of biofuels. The minimal amount is set at a general level (all biofuels) and at a specific level (minimal amount of biofuels in diesel and in gasoline).

Each obligated subject has to present a number of certificates to the national certification entity to prove compliance. Certificates have a value of 1 toe. In case of non-compliance with the targets, a penalty fee applies. In case of over-compliance (some parties selling or consuming more than they are obliged to), the amounts collected from the penalty fees are redistributed by the certification entity proportioally to the subjects that sold / consumed biofuels exceeding their set quota obligation. The Order ITC/2877/2008 regulates the management of the mechanism for the promotion of the use of biofuels and other renewable fuels for transport, defines and sets certain aspects related to the national system for checking biofuel's sustainability, and also states who has an obligation, and how this must be proved by means of biofuels certificates.

The Order ITC/2877/2008 entitled the National Energy Commission (CNE), Spain’s independent regulator of the energy markets, as the certification entity but the Law 3/2013, made changes to the system of regulatory supervision by creating a new body, the National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC), which encompasses the CNE and other industry supervisory authorities. In energy matters, the Law transfers some functions, including the biofuels certification activities, to the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism. Order IET/2786/2015 of 17 December, modifies Order ITC/2877/2008 removing any reference to individual obligations both those related to consumption targets and compliance with the targets by means of compensatory payments.

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