Biofuels in Italy
General
The European
Directive 2001/77/EC (27 September 2001) demands Italy to aim for a
RES-E share of 25% of gross electricity consumption by 2010. No
target exists for renewable heat in Italy. For biofuels, Italy’s Decree
128/2005 set a reference value of 1% by 2005, which is lower than the
2% reference value in the EU Directive. Main support mechanism for
renewable electricity in Italy is the obligation on electricity
generators to produce a certain amount of RES-E, based on Tradable
Green Certificates. In 2006, the target percentage was 3.05%. In case
of non-compliance, sanctions are foreseen, but enforcement in practice
is considered difficult because of ambiguities in the legislation.
Regional and local governments have introduced some measures to promote
RES. These have taken the form of incentives for solar thermal heating
and compulsory installation of solar panels in new or renovated
buildings. On
January the 1st of 2008, the law no. 244/2007, also known as the 2008
Budget
Law (Budget Law), came into force. The Budget Law introduces many
important changes affecting the renewables sector.
According
to the Directive 2009/28/EC of the European Parliament and of the
Council on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources
the target for the share of energy from renewable sources in gross
final consumption of energy in the year 2020 for Italy is 17% (in the
year 2005 the share was 5.2%). The Directive has a mandatory 10 %
target for transport to be achieved by all Member States, which refers
to renewable sources as a whole, not biofuels alone.
Renewable energy projections according to the National Renewable Energy Action Plan for Italy
The
National Renewable Energy Action Plan (NREAP) for Italy was submitted
in August 2010. The target according to Annex I of Directive 2009/28/EC
is 17% for the year 2020 and the projected NREAP share in that year
exactly matches the target. According to the projection, the most
important contribution in the year 2020 is expected from biomass
(renewable heating and cooling) (5670 ktoe, 25% of all renewable
energy). Second important contribution is expected from hydropower
(42.0 TWh or 3611 ktoe, 16% of all renewable energy). The third largest
contribution is from renewable energy from heat pumps (2900 ktoe, 13%
of all renewable energy). Wind power contributes with 12.7 GW (20.0
TWh) in the year 2020 (onshore wind 12.0 GW and 18.0 TWh, offshore wind
0.7 GW and 2.0 TWh). For solar photovoltaic the 2020 contribution is
projected to be 8.0 GW (9.7 TWh). For solar thermal the 2020
contribution is projected to be 1586 ktoe. The two most important
biofuels are projected to contribute 1880 ktoe (biodiesel) and 600 ktoe
(bioethanol / bio-ETBE) by 2020. The renewable electricity production
from solid biomass amounts to 7.9 TWh (679 ktoe) and for biogas it is
expected to be 6.0 TWh (518 ktoe). The consumption of renewable heat is
expected to amount to 5254 ktoe for solid biomass and 266 ktoe for
biogas.
Renewable transport fuels
(biofuel)
The
EU directives on biofuels had set a target for the biofuels share of
all transport fuels at 2% by 2005 and 5.75% by 2010. Fiscal measures
have been targeted on biodiesel and vegetable-based ethanol. A system
of call for candidature for an approval (tax reduction) concerning
biodiesel and bioethanol are in place.
Biodiesel: Article 21(6)
of the single text on excise duties, as amended by Article 1(521) of
Law No 311 of 30 December 2004 (2005 Tax Law), provides for exemption
from excise duty for an annual quota of 200 000 tonnes of biodiesel
under a six-year programme running from 1 January 2005 to 31 December
2010. The size of the reduction may be amended, by means of a decree
issued by the Minister for Economic Affairs and Finance, in order to
prevent overcompensation of the additional costs involved in the
production of biodiesel (compared with the cost of diesel oil). It is
planned to monitor the average industrial production cost of biodiesel
to provide a basis for assessing whether or not there is any
overcompensation.
Ethanol: Italian law (Article 21(6a) of the
single text on excise duties) provides for reduced rates of excise duty
on vegetable-based ethanol and products derived there from used as fuel
or fuel additives as part of an experimental programme to encourage the
use of this biofuel.
In 2005, the reduced-rate programme covered the following products, for
which the reduced rates indicated were applied:
- bioethanol produced from agricultural products: €289.22 per 1 000
litres;
- ethyl-tertio-butyl-ether (ETBE) produced from agricultural alcohol:
€289.22 per 1 000 litres;
- additives and reformulates produced from biomass:
for lead-free petrol: €289.22: per 1 000 litres;
for diesel oil, excluding biodiesel: €245.32 per 1 000 litres.
From
1 January 2007 Legislative Decree No 128/2005 has been extensively
amended, particu-larly as regards the national indicative targets for
the substitution of fuels with biofuels. Article 3 of the Decree now
lays down as national indicative targets the following blend
percentages:
2.5% by 31 December 2008;
5.75% by 31 December 2010.
The table below shows the rates currently in
force for biofuels for automotive purposes (Article 22a of Legislative
Decree No 504/1995 as amended):
The current limit on the quota of biodiesel
eligible for the reduced excise rate was set for 2010 by the 2010
Finance Act (Law No 191/2009) at 18,000 tonnes; the same law reduced
the annual limit on expenditure on the eligible quotas to €0.1 million,
effective from 2011.
Future programme changes
expected
No information on future policy.
Sources
EurObserv'ER Biofuels Barometer, http://www.eurobserv-er.org/pdf/baro204.asp, July 2011
EurObserv'ER Biofuels Barometer, http://www.eurobserv-er.org/pdf/baro198.asp, July 2010
EurObserv'ER Biofuels Barometer, http://www.eurobserv-er.org/pdf/baro192.asp , July 2009
EurObserv'ER Biofuels Barometer, http://www.eurobserv-er.org, June 2008
National report on the implementation of Directive 2003/30/EC of 8 May
2003 on the promotion of the use of biofuels or other renewable fuels
for transport for 2006, http://ec.europa.eu/energy/res/legislation/biofuels_members_states_en.htm:
Interactive EurObserv’ER Database, http://www.eurobserv-er.org (status
2007)
Directive 2009/28/EC
of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 on the
promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources and amending and
subsequently repealing Directives 2001/77/EC and 2003/30/EC (Entry into
force on June 25th, 2009), download from
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:32009L0028:EN:NOT
The National Renewable Energy Action
Plans (NREAPs) are all published on the Transparency Platform on
Renewable Energy: http://ec.europa.eu/energy/renewables/transparency_platform/action_plan_en.htm
(sourced July - December 2010)
Renewable Energy Projections as Published in the National Renewable
Energy Action Plans of the European Member States, http://www.ecn.nl/nreap
(sourced December 2010).
Interactive EurObserv’ER Database
http://www.eurobserv-er.org
Last update: August 2011
This information can be referenced without permission provided that
thesource is mentioned completely and correctly: 'Interactive
EurObserv'ER
Database, http://www.eurobserv-er.org (date of last update)'
Suggestions for improvements to the policy description can be sent to
EurObserv'ER by e-mail: project@eurobserv-er.org
The EurObserv'ER barometer is a project supported by the European
Commission within the DG ENER 'Intelligent Energy Europe' programme and
by Ademe, the French Environment and Energy management Agency. The
EurObserv'ER Barometer is the result of the investigation and research
work of its authors. The European Commission is not responsible for any
use that may be made of the information contained therein.