Introductory text

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to 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^f1, and in particular Annex V, part C, point 10 thereof,

Whereas:

Directive 2009/28/EC lays down rules for calculating the greenhouse gas impact of biofuels, bioliquids and their fossil fuel comparators, which take into account emissions from carbon stock changes caused by land use change. Directive 98/70/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 October 1998 relating to the quality of petrol and diesel fuels and amending Council Directive 93/12/EEC^f2 includes corresponding rules as far as biofuels are concerned.

The Commission should draw its guidelines for the calculation of land carbon stocks on the 2006 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories. Those Guidelines were intended for national greenhouse gas inventories and are not expressed in a form that is readily applicable by economic operators. It is therefore appropriate, where IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories lack the necessary information for purposes of biofuel and bioliquid production or where such information is not accessible, to draw on other scientific sources of data.

For the calculation of the carbon stocks in soil organic matter it is appropriate to take into account climate, soil type, land cover, land management and input. For mineral soils, the IPCC Tier 1 methodology for soil organic carbon is an appropriate method to use for this purpose as it covers the global level. For organic soils, the IPCC methodology addresses in particular carbon loss following soil drainage and does this only through annual losses. As soil drainage normally results in high carbon stock loss that cannot be compensated by the greenhouse gas saving of biofuels or bioliquids and as drainage of peatland soil is prohibited by the sustainability criteria laid down by Directive 2009/28/EC, it suffices to lay down general rules for determining soil organic carbon or carbon losses in organic soils.

For the calculation of carbon stock in living biomass and dead organic matter a low complexity approach corresponding to IPCC Tier 1 methodology for vegetation should be an appropriate method. In accordance with that methodology it is reasonable to assume that all carbon stock in living biomass and dead organic matter is lost from the land upon conversion. Dead organic matter is usually of low significance in land conversion for the establishment of crops for the production of biofuels and bioliquids, but should be taken into account at least for closed forests.

In calculating the greenhouse gas impact of land conversion, economic operators should be able to use actual values for the carbon stocks associated with the reference land use and the land use after conversion. They should also be able to use standard values and it is appropriate for these guidelines to provide them. It is not necessary, however, to provide standard values for improbable combinations of climate and soil type.

Annex V to Directive 2009/28/EC sets out the method for calculating greenhouse gas impacts and contains rules for the calculation of annualised emissions of carbon stock changes from land use changes. The guidelines annexed to this Decision establish rules for the calculation of land carbon stocks, completing the rules laid down in the Annex V,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION: