GasNaturally Position Paper on the Deployment of Alternative Fuels Infrastructure (AFIR)
The use of alternative and renewable gaseous fuels and the deployment of the gas road refuelling infrastructure supports the decarbonisation of the transport sector, as it enables the supply and wider deployment of renewable and low-carbon gaseous solutions including biomethane, e-methane, LPG, bioLPG, and rDME across the EU. All these technologies can play a critical role in decarbonising road transport and contributing to the EU’s climate objectives, provided that an enabling framework is put in place. Our associations fully welcome the European Commission’s ambition to develop a strong policy framework for the further deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure to achieve the Green Deal objectives.
However, GasNaturally is concerned that the established definitions of alternative fuels and the overall lack of ambition for the scalable utilisation of LNG/CNG infrastructure would restrict the deployment of said solutions, and therefore, requires re-consideration.
In a nutshell, we recommend that the future policy framework:
- Reconsiders the alternative fuels’ terminology and ensure a technology-neutral approach to broaden the uptake of gaseous solutions in decarbonizing road transport;
- Supports the development of LNG/CNG infrastructure in the long term to ensure adequate support, investment, and utilization of respective solutions; and
- Ensures consistency across legislation and periodically evaluate the regulation to keep it fit for purpose.
