Germany has just sharpened one of Europe’s most influential defossilisation instruments. On 22 April 2026, the Bundestag’s Environment Committee adopted the amended Second Act on the Further Development of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Quota (THG-Quote) — Drucksache 21/5530 — significantly above the level originally proposed by the Federal Government. For the Power-to-X community, this is the strongest political signal yet that RFNBOs are moving from a niche compliance option to a structural pillar of European transport defossilisation.

A more ambitious overall trajectory

The committee raised the headline GHG reduction obligation for fuel suppliers from the originally proposed 59% to 65% by 2040. The full trajectory was steepened across the board: 17.5% in 2027 (up from 16%), 26.5% in 2030 (up from 25%), and 46% in 2036 (up from 40.5%). According to the explanatory memorandum, this corresponds to a renewable energy share in transport of roughly 62% under the RED III calculation methodology — placing Germany clearly above the EU minimum.

The short-term increase to 17.5% in 2027 is a direct response to the wave of fraudulent UER and biofuel certificates that depressed quota prices in recent years. The carry-over of those over-fulfilled volumes will hit the market in 2027, and the higher quota is designed to absorb them without collapsing the price signal.

The RFNBO sub-quota: from symbolic to structural

The most consequential change for the Power-to-X sector is the dedicated minimum share for renewable fuels of non-biological origin in the 37th BImSchV. The committee version goes well beyond the government draft:

  • 0.1% from 2026, 0.5% from 2028
  • 1.5% from 2030 (up from 1.2%)
  • 3.0% from 2032 (up from 1.5%)
  • 3.5% from 2033 (newly inserted)
  • 4.0% from 2034, 5.0% from 2035 (newly inserted)
  • 6.0% from 2036, 7.0% from 2037, 8.0% from 2038, 9.0% from 2039
  • 10.0% from 2040 (up from 8.0%)

This trajectory is now among the most ambitious RFNBO ramp-ups in any EU Member State. It gives electrolyser developers, eFuel producers and offtakers in road transport a quantified, legally binding demand curve to plan against — something the market has been asking for since RED III entered into force.

Penalties that actually bite

Targets without enforcement are decoration. The amended law sets clear, differentiated penalties:

  • EUR 0.60 per kg CO₂-equivalent for missing the general GHG reduction quota
  • EUR 45 per gigajoule for shortfalls against the advanced biofuels sub-quota
  • EUR 120 per gigajoule for shortfalls against the RFNBO sub-quota

For the aviation pillar — implementing ReFuelEU Aviation — the new §37l BImSchG sets non-compliance fees of EUR 4,700 per tonne for missing SAF volumes and EUR 17,000 per tonne for synthetic aviation fuels (eSAF). These figures are designed to exceed the cost gap to fossil kerosene, ensuring that compliance is the rational economic choice.

Anti-fraud: on-site inspections become non-negotiable

From the 2027 compliance year, biofuels and RFNBOs from production facilities that do not allow on-site inspections by an EU Member State authority can no longer be counted toward the quota. The amendment also empowers the Federal Government to require on-site checks as a condition for counting volumes against any minimum share — including the new RFNBO sub-quota. Combined with mandatory entry into the Union Database (§37i), this addresses the structural weaknesses that enabled the recent fraud cases involving Asian certificates.

Other signals worth noting

  • Low-carbon hydrogen as an intermediate in conventional fuel production becomes eligible from 2031.
  • Recycled carbon fuels become eligible from 2027.
  • Biogenic hydrogen is double-counted in the 37th BImSchV to support advanced production pathways.
  • Co-processing rules are relaxed to allow biogenic feedstocks of Annex IX Part B(b) — including animal fats — alongside mineral oils, including for SAF production.
  • Heavy-duty electric vehicles (M3/N3 buses and trucks) get a higher multiplier for grid electricity to accelerate fleet electrification.

Why this matters for RED IV

The European Commission has begun preparatory work on the next revision of the Renewable Energy Directive. Germany’s decision to lock in a 10% RFNBO sub-quota for road transport by 2040 — backed by a EUR 120/GJ penalty — sends a clear political signal about the direction Berlin will push for at EU level. Member States with weaker ambition will find it harder to argue for a softer RED IV when the largest fuel market in the Union is already operating at a higher level.

For Swiss Power-to-X stakeholders, the German trajectory is doubly relevant. Switzerland’s accounting mechanism under Art. 11a CO₂-Gesetz is administratively simple but currently lacks comparable demand-side ambition. As Germany’s RFNBO market scales, the price signals, certification infrastructure and offtake architecture being built across the border will define the conditions under which Swiss eFuel projects find financing partners and offtakers — whether Switzerland follows or not.

The bottom line

The amended THG-Quote is a success for the Power-to-X case. With a 10% RFNBO sub-quota by 2040, a 65% overall GHG reduction path, and substantive financial penalties for non-compliance, Germany is now among the EU Member States with the most ambitious — and most enforceable — RFNBO targets. This is a strong signal for investment in eFuels and electrolysis-based fuels, and a likely indicator of where RED IV is heading.

Note on terminology: where carbon-based energy carriers (such as eFuels, eSAF, recycled carbon fuels) replace fossil hydrocarbons using recycled or biogenic carbon, the correct term is defossilisation. Decarbonisation is reserved for cases where carbon-based energy carriers are replaced by electricity, green hydrogen or green ammonia.

Source: Deutscher Bundestag, Drucksache 21/5530 (Beschlussempfehlung und Bericht des Ausschusses für Umwelt, Klimaschutz, Naturschutz und nukleare Sicherheit), 22 April 2026.