BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 11. The International Energy Agency (IEA) has revised down its forecasts for diesel and gasoline demand in Europe, Trend reports.
“In Europe, 2022 gasoline and diesel demand are expected to be 1.5 percent and 1.1 percent, respectively, lower than forecasted in January of this year. Several governments are also proposing, or have already, reduced blending obligations because of high biofuel prices. At the time of writing, Belgium, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Finland, Germany and Sweden had all announced changes that, if implemented, will contribute to reduced biofuel demand in 2022 and 2023. For instance, Finland will lower blending obligations by 7.5 percentage points, on an energy basis, in 2022 and 2023. The impact of these changes in various regions remains unclear, however, as states will still have to comply with other policies like the EU’s Fuel Quality Directive (FQD), which mandates greenhouse gas reduction targets,” IEA said in its latest report.
IEA estimates Finland and Sweden’s plans lead to lower biofuel demand equal to 320 million litres in 2022. Combined, biofuel demand growth expectations are reduced by 16 percent compared to January levels.
The report says that while growing more slowly than previously forecast for 2022, global biofuels demand is still expected to increase year-on-year by 5 percent, or 8 500 million litres, and rise by a further 3 percent, or 5 200 million litres, in 2023. Transport fuel demand growth, although at a slower pace, and government policies continue to drive demand higher for global biofuels.
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