EU Adopts New Rules to Expand Alt Fuel Stations

On Monday, new EU rules were adopted to ensure the build-up of alternative refueling points across Europe with common standards for their design and use. The directive for CNG requires Member States to ensure a sufficient number of publicly accessible refueling points, with common standards, to allow the circulation of CNG vehicles, both in urban and sub- urban areas as well as on the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T), ideally every 150 km (93 miles), to be built by the end of 2025. The directive for LNG requires Member States to ensure a sufficient number of publicly accessible refueling points for road transportation, with common standards, on the TEN-T core network, ideally every 400 km (about 250 miles), to be built by the end of 2025. The directive also requires a minimum coverage to ensure accessibility of LNG in main maritime and inland ports. The new rules also require expanded infrastructure for hydrogen and electric vehicles. “With these new rules, the EU provides long-awaited legal certainty for companies to start investing, and the possibility for economies of scale,” said commissions Vice President Siim Kallas. “It is now up to [EU Member States] to develop the right national policy frameworks.” Member States must set and make public their targets and present their national policy frameworks by the end of 2016.