Clean Energy Technology Observatory: Advanced Biofuels in the European Union - 2025 Status Report on Technology Development, Trends, Value Chains and Markets
The EU advanced biofuels sector, defined by the Renewable Energy Directive (RED II) as liquid or gaseous fuels produced from specific non-food and non-feed biomass (Annex IX Part A of the RED II), is key to achieving the legally binding 2030 renewable energy targets. These fuels are essential for the transport sector’s mandated 29% renewables share, contributing to the challenging 5.5% combined sub-target together with renewable fuels of non-biological origin (RFNBOs). Driven by legislative certainty, EU consumption of these preferential fuels has quadrupled, from around 1 Mtoe in 2019 to over 4 Mtoe in 2023. This expansion supports a sector that recorded a turnover of EUR 11.8 billion in 2023 and demonstrates global innovation leadership, generating 66% high-value inventions among patent applications. The EU aims to reduce production costs from 50 EUR/MWh in 2020 to less than 35 EUR/MWh by 2030, despite high prices remaining in mandated sectors such as aviation (starting at EUR 1,500 per ton). Policy interventions are necessary to sustain this growth and industrial competitiveness of the sector. Member States need to accelerate project deployment and protect the domestic market from low-priced imports. The mandatory use of the Union Database for Biofuels (UDB) must be enforced to guarantee traceability and mitigate fraud risks associated with reliance on imported waste feedstocks.
MOTOLA Vincenzo;
BUFFI Marco;
REJTHAROVA Jana;
HURTIG Oliver;
SCARLAT Nicolae;
GEORGAKAKI Aliki;
LETOUT Simon;
MOUNTRAKI Aikaterini;
SALVUCCI Raffaele;
SCHADE Burkhard;
RÓZSAI Máté;
2026-02-02
Publications Office of the European Union
JRC144512
978-92-68-35381-3 (online),
1831-9424 (online),
EUR 40606,
OP KJ-01-26-024-EN-N (online),
https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC144512,
10.2760/1570541 (online),
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