Law Commons^™

Using Sustainability Criteria For Biomass, Evgenia Pavlovskaia

Evgenia Pavlovskaia

This article explores the use of sustainability criteria for biomass as a tool to promote and safeguard sustainability of this product. Much attention is paid to the issues that sustainability criteria for biomass should consider. Among them the priority for food supply and food security, the emission reduction of green house gases (GHG) through the whole production chain, the preservation of areas of high ecological value, the protection of soil and water quality, and the requirements to the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are highlighted. In general, different issues relevant for sustainable biomass can be outlined and promoted. Their …

Sustainability Criteria As A Tool To Promote Sustainable Products And Their Sustainable Production, Evgenia Pavlovskaia

Evgenia Pavlovskaia

Coming publication

Summary:

Among the environmental challenges, which humanity is facing today, there are the threat of global climate change, unsatisfactory air quality, – especially in large cities, – and the fact that the resources of fossil fuels are finite. Biofuels have long been at the top of the political and scientific agenda as a possible solution to all the three challenges.

Not everything is clear about biofuels. The production costs of biofuels are still higher than those of traditional fossil fuels: without subsidies biofuels are not competitive. The environmental impact of biofuels has also been questioned, for example the …

Analysis Of The Mechanisms To Control The Fulfillment Of The Eu Sustainability Criteria For Biofuels In Directive 2009/28/Ec, (Part Ii), Evgenia Pavlovskaia

Evgenia Pavlovskaia

The article analyzes mechanisms established to control the fulfillment of the EU sustainability criteria for biofuels that were presented in Directive 2009/28/EC. The article is the continuation of the research started in the work Pavlovskaia, E. (2013) “Controlling the Fulfillment of the EU Sustainability Criteria for Transport Biofuels”, which was published in RELP 4/2013. The conducted analysis is grounded in the opinions of the leading researchers in the environmental energy studies. The results of the article highlight that there are difficulties to achieve the desirable quality of control when the EU sustainability criteria are implemented. It is pointed out that …

Mechanisms To Control The Fulfillment Of The Eu Sustainability Criteria For Transport Biofuels In Directive 2009/28/Ec, Evgenia Pavlovskaia

Evgenia Pavlovskaia

To function efficiently, a framework in environmental law should contain certain mechanisms or supplementary elements that facilitate the implementation and enforcement of environmental regulations, for example such mechanisms and elements that answer for the control and supervision of the legislated requirements. Appropriately organized control mechanisms are important for a legal framework to function as it has been aimed for and to fulfill its purposes. The present article is focused on the analysis of the mechanisms chosen to control the fulfillment of the European Union (EU) sustainability criteria for transport biofuels, which have been presented in Directive 2009/28/EC. The analysis is …

Legal Analysis Of The Eu Policy For Sustainable Transport Biofuels, Evgenia Pavlovskaia

Evgenia Pavlovskaia

Warnings about limited oil resources, as well as the necessity to reduce GHG emissions and secure energy supply1 have become prioritized issues on the EU agenda. It has been suggested to partially replace traditional fossil fuels with other sources of renewable energy, for example with biofuels in the transport sector. This has been seen as a promising solution for complications connected with the extraction and supply of oil, as well as for the reduction of GHG emissions. It has also become understandable that the quality of biofuels and their production methods need to be sustainable. The material, from which biofuels …

Controlling The Fulfillment Of The Eu Sustainability Criteria For Transport Biofuels (On The Basis Of Directive 2009/28/Ec), Part I, Evgenia Pavlovskaia

Evgenia Pavlovskaia

The present article researches the mechanisms suggested for controlling the fulfillment of the EU sustainability criteria for transport biofuels that have been presented in the central legal framework in this area, which is Directive 2009/28/EC. The analysis is extended to the related EU policy documents of a non-binding explanatory and recommendatory character. Judging from the content of Directive 2009/28/EC, two main levels of the EU control can be distinguished. The first one is exercised by the EU internal bodies on how the sustainability criteria are fulfilled by the Member States. This level of control is primarily characterized by the scheduled …

Using Sustainability Criteria For Biofuels In A Legal Context - An Analysis Based On The Eu Policy For Transport Biofuels, Evgenia Pavlovskaia

Evgenia Pavlovskaia

Sustainable quality of biofuels and their production methods should be seen as a part of the wider concept “sustainability”. Sustainability of biofuels should be measured in relation to resources and possibilities that the Earth can supply us with. This presentation focuses on sustainability criteria in their function to promote sustainability in a legal context, followed by the analysis of the binding EU regulations for transport biofuels as an example. Two main issues are examined: - the concept of sustainability criteria, special features of their use in law and aspects relevant for their practical implementation, and - the issue of control …

Using Sustainability Criteria For Biofuels In A Legal Context, Evgenia Pavlovskaia

Evgenia Pavlovskaia

In order to analyze the empirical material of the doctoral thesis on the EU sustainability criteria for biofuels, a specially constructed model has been applied. This model has been created on the basis of two separate models of two Swedish researchers, Westerlund and Lundquist. The first component in this so-called combined model is the legal operationalization model of Staffan Westerlund, and the other is the implementation steering model of Lennart Lundquist.

Swedish National Implementation Of The Sustainability Criteria For Transport Biofuels From Directive 2008/29/Ec; Questionnaire, Evgenia Pavlovskaia

Evgenia Pavlovskaia

This paper contains a preliminary list of questions about the Swedish national implementation of the EU sustainability criteria for transport biofuels from Directive 2008/29/EC. This questions have been used as a background for informal conversations with people who have been engaged in the implemention of the EU sustainability criteria at the Swedish national level.

Preliminary Abstract 1, Evgenia Pavlovskaia

Evgenia Pavlovskaia

Among the environmental challenges, which humanity is facing today, there are the threat of global climate change, unsatisfactory air quality, and the fact that the resources of fossil fuels are finite. Biofuels have long been at the top of international agenda as a possible solution to all the three issues. The present project is a timely contribution to the research of the law of biofuels. The purpose of the investigation is to analyze the use of law as a means to implement the ambitious policy on biofuels. In this, I investigate and evaluate in what respects legal systems promote respectively …

Preliminary Plan For The Doctoral Thesis: The Role And Function Of Law As The Promoter Of The Sustainable Use Of Bio-Fuels In The Transport Sector, Evgenia Pavlovskaia

Evgenia Pavlovskaia

The paper contains the preliminary plan of the doctoral thesis made in 2008. It explains that the purpose of the project is to analyze the use of the law as a means to implement the sustainable policy on bio-fuels. The author will investigate and evaluate in what respect legal systems promote respectively restrain trade, production and use of bio-fuels in the transport sector, and how they balance the bio-fuel objective against other objectives important for the sustainable development (such as food production and biodiversity). The author will also identify efficient and less efficient legal constructions and discuss possibly successful legal …