Requirements and certification of renewable fuels of non-biological origin (RFNBO) and recycled carbon fuels (RCF)

With the revised Directive (EU) 2018/2001, the European Commission has set a common framework to promote the share of energy from renewable sources in gross final consumption of energy, especially in the transport sector. With the adoption of Delegated Regulations (EU) 2023/1184 and (EU) 2023/1185, the European Commission has defined specific requirements for the production of renewable fuels of non-biological origin (RFNBO) and recycled carbon fuels (RCF) in addition to the requirements for the production of biofuels, bioliquids and biomass fuels already defined in Directive (EU) 2018/2001.

Certification in the REDcert-EU scheme

Based on the above mentioned Delegated Regulations (EU) 2023/1184 and 2023/1185, REDcert has developed specific requirements for the certification RFNBO and RCF, which were officially recognised by the European Commission in Implementing Decision (EU) 2024/3194 of 19 December 2024.
 

As part of the REDcert-EU scheme, both RFNBO and RCF can be certified in accordance with the European requirements.

What are RFNBO?

According to the definition, renewable fuels of non-biological origin (RFNBO) are defined as liquid or gaseous fuels the energy content of which is derived from renewable sources other than biomass.

This means that all energy stored in the RFNBO must originate from renewable energy sources such as solar or wind power. One production pathway of an RFNBO is to electrolyze water by using renewable electricity to produce hydrogen (H₂). Colloquially, this is referred to as “green hydrogen". This hydrogen can either be used directly as a fuel or used to reduce carbon dioxide (CO₂) in order to produce fuels such as methan, methanol or sustainable aviation fuels. 

What are RCF?

Recycled carbon fuels (RCF) are defined as liquid or gaseous fuels that are produced from waste or exhaust gas of non-renewable origin which. The waste that can be used for the production of RCF is no longer suitable for recycling, i.e. material utilisation. In the case of waste gases, these are unavoidable gases that are inevitably and unintentionally produced as a result of industrial production processes. RCF are typically obtained through thermochemical conversion such as gasification or pyrolysis of this waste.

Overview of scheme documents

The scheme principles form the basis for the certification of RFNBO and RCF. On this website, we present the scheme principles as well as the applicable documents in detail, which ensure the implementation of the requirement criteria.