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About the BioGrace Project

The BioGrace project ran from 2010 to 2012 and was financed by the Intelligent Energy Europe programme.

The overall objective of the project was to harmonise the European calculations of biofuel GHG  emissions that  have to be made to comply with the Renewable Energy Directive (RED, 2009/28/EC) and the Fuel Quality Directive (FQD, 2009/30/EC) (read background).

Results achieved during the BioGrace project are:

  • An excel-based GHG calculation tool has been build which shows, for the 22 biofuel  production pathways listed, how the default values in Annex V.A and V.D of the RED were calculated.
  • In addition to the excel-based GHG calculation tool, a list of standard values, a list of additional standard values, a set of calculation rules and a user manual were made. Together they allow economic operators to make actual calculations.
  • The BioGrace GHG calculation tool (Excel tool together with all supplementary items) has been recognised as a voluntary scheme by the European Commission.
  • National biofuel GHG calculation tools have been harmonised in co-operation with their owners in Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, and the United Kingdom; they give the same result as the Excel BioGrace GHG calculation tool. Moreover, policy makers in all 27 EU member states have been requested to make reference to one harmonised set of standard values, causing harmonisation of GHG calculations. By the end of the project, this has been done in seven member states.
  • The project results have been widely disseminated through a website, a leaflet, newsletters, workshops and targeted presentations at conferences and meetings.