Transport & Environment (T&E), the organization does not government whose goal is to eliminate emissions pollutants in the transport sector, accuses the Spanish government of prevent the adoption at EU level of an agreement to speed up the Deployment of zero-emission fuels in the maritime transport, denouncing that Spain's position in the Trilogue negotiations on the Renewable Energy Directive and the FuelEU Maritime Regulation 'serves the interests of the lobby of liquefied natural gas" and "is preventing adoption an agreement to set a binding target for supply of zero-emission renewable electrofuels for shipping'.
This - according to T&E - makes the possibilities very scarce whereas the specific trilogue meeting on these issues between the representatives of Parliament, the Council and the Commission of the European Union scheduled for today may lead to a compromise agreement. "The blockade that Spain is placing preventing the adoption of this Europe Agreement on green electrofuels - said the spokesperson of T&E, Carlos Bravo - clearly serves the interests of the gas lobby natural liquefied, a fossil fuel with an impact climate worse even than that of conventional fuels. The Spanish Government must make it clear which side it is on: if it is in favour of the decarbonisation of maritime transport or fossil fuels'.
For Transport & Environment, Spain would prevent reach an agreement by refusing to support a mandate specific to fuel suppliers to provide the Maritime transport a certain percentage of renewable fuels of non-biological origin derived from green hydrogen (RNFBO) ( of 10 October 2022). T&E accuses Spain of citing reasons unfounded to support this refusal, in particular by asserting that The maritime sector is scarce in the availability of use RFNBO fuels. According to T&E, moreover, "this position is absurd and contrary to the interests of Spain given that it puts at risk the investments already announced by Maersk, in collaboration with the Spanish government, to produce up to two million tonnes of e-methanol at sites in Galicia, and Andalusia' ( of 3 November 2022). Supporting this 2% sub-share of RFNBO proposed by the European Parliament - noted T&E - "could offer enormous economic opportunities to the Spanish economy, increasing domestic production of green hydrogen, transforming Spanish ports into hubs for green hydrogen and providing e-methanol to the European maritime sector to promote its necessary decarbonisation'.
Transport & Environment then urged the government Spanish «to stop blocking at the European institutions the ability to use the fastest possible sustainable renewable fuels in this sector, one of the most polluting in the world».