As part of its initiatives to reduce greenhouse gases, the EU has proposed ranking the fuels it uses on carbon intensity to guide fuel suppliers to the lower carbon sources.
The government of Alberta – where most tar sands oil comes from – is upset that its oil received a high intensity carbon ranking. Tar sands oil would be ranked at 107 grams of carbon per megajoule, compared to conventional crude at 87.5 grams, an EU source told Reuters.
Alberta sent a letter to the EU committee working on the ranking, complaining the ranking is unfair and a potential trade threat. It also says there’s no scientific reason to differentiate between Canada’s oil sands and other crude sources, reports Reuters.
The EU Commission countered that Venezuela’s oil is also carbon intensive when the full life cycle is taken into account. And there are even more carbon intensive oils than tar sands: Oil shale ranks 131.3 and coal-to-liquid fuels rank 172.
Creating a green fuel ranking is part of the EU’s commitment to reduce the carbon intensity of transportation fuels 6% by 2020, and part of its wider commitment to reduce carbon emissions 20% by 2020.
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