An EU Parliament vote December 17, 2014 on the Fuel Quality Directive (FQD) did not reach a  qualified majority of 376 needed for rejection but found 337 MEPs voting against a Commission proposal that will make oil companies report the origin and trade name of their crude oil.  Many MEP felt that the current  FQD proposal has been weakened in view of its initial ambition to cut fuel CO2 emissions by 6% by 2020. The FQD for example rules that oil from tar sands is to be given the same emission value as conventional petrol or diesel, meaning its higher actual greenhouse gas emissions will not be accounted for.  The vote also demonstrates the Parliament concern about importing tar sands and the impact of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. According to research commissioned by the EU executive, tar sands is 23% more carbon intensive than conventional oil. The FQD is important to promote cleaner transport fuels and is part of the EU’s push to cut carbon emissions by 20% by 2020. Transport is responsible for 31% of the EU’s total CO2 emissions. A German initiative  Performance Energy, representing energy and oil companies, lobbied for an amendment of Article 2, paragraph 2, point (i) to add “gaseous fuel produced by renewable energy sources” in order to provide an incentive for hydrogen produced by renewable energy. The FQD’s future will depend on the outcome of the COP21 in Paris in December 2015 according to the conclusions of the EU Council on the Energy and Climate 2o30 dossier.(Photo: courtesy H2Logic, Europe’s latest hydrogen station in Aalborg, Denmark).