Access to alternative fuels demanded by European Union 02 October 2014

New EU rules were adopted yesterday (1 October 2014), with member states now obliged to ensure minimum coverage of clean, alternative fuels refuelling stations for EU-wide vehicle mobility.

The rules include the adoption of Europe-wide common standards for the design and use of refuelling points, including a common plug for recharging electric vehicles.

Member States must set and make public their targets and present their national policy frameworks by the end of 2016.

"Alternative fuels are key to improving the security of energy supply, reducing the impact of transport on the environment and boosting EU competitiveness," says commission vice-president Siim Kallas, commissioner for transport.

"With these new rules, the EU provides long-awaited legal certainty for companies to start investing, and the possibility for economies of scale," he continues.

"EU member states requested flexibility in deploying the infrastructure. It is now up to them to develop the right national policy frameworks."

The EU accepts that until now, some alternative fuels have been held back by three main barriers: the high cost of vehicles, a low level of consumer acceptance; and the lack of recharging and refuelling stations.

Kallas see it as a vicious circle that is now going to be broken.

With the new Directive for the Deployment of the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure, EU member states must provide a minimum infrastructure for alternative fuels with a regulatory framework defined for electricity, hydrogen and natural gas, as well as associated common equipment standards.

For LNG (liquefied natural gas) and bio-methane vehicles, member states have to ensure sufficient publicly accessible refuelling points, with common standards, on the TEN-T core network, ideally every 400km, to be built by the end of 2025.

The requirement is csimilar for CNG (compressed natural gas), but with urban and sub-urban areas covered, as well as the TEN-T network, ideally every 15 km, again by the close of 2025.

For electric vehicles, the directive demands targets for recharging points to be built by 2020 for urban and suburban agglomerations.

Author
Brian Tinham

Related Companies
European Commission- Joint Research Centre

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