http://economiclaw.kiev.ua/index.php/economiclaw/article/view/1116

Abstract

The present paper examines the problems and prospects of preferential taxation of carbon dioxide emissions from biofuel combustion in the context of reassessing climate impacts of bioenergy. Special attention is given to the analysis of the draft Law of Ukraine “On amendments to the Tax Code of Ukraine regarding the establishment of a zero-tax rate for carbon dioxide emissions from installations that produce such emissions as a result of biofuel combustion”, the latest version of which was published by the Ministry of Energy of Ukraine in August 2022. Scientific approaches that express a critical view of the carbon neutrality of bioenergy and indicate the possibility of its adverse climate impacts are generalized. Potentially conflict zones where bioenergy capacity growth may conflict with climate policy are discussed. It is demonstrated that recent changes in European Union legislation are designed to ensure that zero-emission biomass shall fulfil the sustainability and the greenhouse gas emissions saving criteria. The extension of these criteria to relations in the field of emissions trading indicates significant progress in ensuring the objectivity of assessing the climate potential of bioenergy. Joining such progressive changes is complicated in Ukraine by the lack of the criteria at the level of national legislation, the energy crisis, the reduction of sustainable biomass due to hostilities and other factors. In this regard, the paper provides suggestions to establish a zero-tax rate for carbon dioxide emissions from installations that use biofuel as the only type of fuel, without reference to the sustainability and the greenhouse gas emissions saving criteria, at least in the short term to stimulate investment processes in the field of renewable energy.