The Dawn of Greater Energy Independence – Why Europe Also Needs to Count on Sustainable Bioenergy

May 11, 2022

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by Paul Bennett, Chair (IEA Bioenergy/Biofuels Digest) ... Little attention is paid to the global potential of bioenergy from sustainably sourced biomass – and wrongly so. Because without bioenergy, the urgent step toward fossil free greater energy security and climate neutrality will not succeed. It is the overlooked giant of the energy transition.

The three perspectives of energy security, energy independence and climate change mitigation are in the focus of bioenergy:

We need to utilize the vast potential of energy production from sustainable biomass
We need a heat transition for climate-neutral energy security
We need to seize the opportunities of bioenergy to combine renewable energy production with CO₂ removal from the atmosphere.

Perspective #1: Utilize the vast potential of energy production from sustainable biomass

Bioenergy is the most widely used renewable energy in the world. It accounts for about ten percent of global energy supply (for electricity, heating, cooling and transport). In Europe, bioenergy represents about 60 percent of renewable energy. There is room to expand the mobilization of biomass in a sustainable way and use it for modern and clean bioenergy applications.

Thus, bioenergy is an important and essential part of global, but also of European energy security. It allows for more independence from fossil fuels. Bioenergy prices are much more stable than fossil fuel prices; it can be produced from local resources and absorb seasonal fluctuations of other renewables; bioenergy is compatible with current infrastructures, so it can already be used now. Most importantly, biomass can be stored, it is versatile and can deliver heat and power, supply fuels for transportation or deliver renewable gas.

Bioenergy contributes substantially to climate change mitigation when it is produced from biomass that is grown sustainably or based on waste and residues; converted to energy products efficiently and used to replace fossil fuels.

However, bioenergy is in the slipstream of solar and wind energy, which does not do justice to its global importance. Only with an expansion of sustainable bioenergy – in addition to energy savings and strong growth of other types of renewables – we will be able to meet the increasing demand for renewable energy and also achieve more (national) energy independence. Around 96% of the EU’s current use of biomass for bioenergy originates from the EU itself.

It is necessary to:

Expand deployment of existing technologies such as biomethane to replace fossil gas, or combined heat and power production from biomass.
Commercialize new technologies such as biomass gasification or integrated biorefineries to co-produce biochemicals, biofuels and heat.
Ensure sustainable biomass supply for renewable fuels, e.g. through the implementation of certification and other sustainability governance systems.

Take away:

For the transition to a climate neutral society, all types of renewables are important. We need to reduce energy demand and maximize the contribution of fuels, power and heat from renewable resources – including biogenic resources – to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and protect the climate. This contributes to the targets of the European Green Deal and to both global and national energy security.

Perspective #2: Heat generation through bioenergy – the overlooked giant

Heat generation (for buildings and industry processes) represents more than 50 percent of global energy consumption and is still largely dependent on fossil fuels such as oil, gas or coal. Moving away from fossil resources in heat generation is a key component in decarbonization. This fact is largely underestimated since the attention of policymakers and the public is more on electricity generation where other renewables (solar, wind) can play a leading role.

For heat generation, biomass is currently by far the most important renewable energy source. It includes heat supply from solid fuels, liquid fuels, gaseous fuels and the biogenic fraction of waste. A large proportion of biobased heat is already produced from residual materials and green waste.

Biomass can be stored cost-effectively on a larger scale (wood chip or pellet storage, biomethane storage, liquid biofuels storage) and can be used in a targeted manner. It is also capable of providing heat at a high temperature level without additional costly technology.

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Perspective #3: Combining renewable energy production with CO₂ extraction from the atmosphere.

To stabilize global temperatures in the coming decades, removal of CO₂ from the atmosphere, so called “negative emissions”, will be a necessity, not just an option. This was recently confirmed by the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report. READ MORE

Report describes changes to Dutch government’s policy on biomass (Biomass Magazine)

Netherlands ends subsidies for woody bio-based raw materials (Bio Market Insights)

Security alert: Five lessons from the energy crisis (Wood Mackenzie)

Potential revisions to EU biomass rules remain a work in progress (U.S. Industrial Pellet Association/Biomass Magazine)

Excerpt from Biomass Magazine: According to the report, Dutch Minster for Climate and Energy Rob Jetten on April 22 sent a letter to the Dutch Parliament outlining the Dutch government’s policy for the application of biomass. He indicated that the Cabinet will support the application of biomass for high-value applications, uses which have no renewable alternative, and applications by which carbon is stored. Support for low-value purposes, such as the production of biopower and low temperature heat will be phased out. The letter follows an agreement reached by the newly formed Dutch coalition government in December 2021 in which the coalition of political parties expressed their intent to phase out the use of wood biomass for energy purposes and only allow the use of woody biomass produced in the EU to monitor compliance with sustainability criteria.

In his letter, Jetten stresses that the Dutch Cabinet expects biomass to play an important role in meeting the country’s climate and circular economy goals. He said the Cabinet supports the use of biomass to produce biobased chemicals, plastics, and materials replacing fossil feedstocks. It also supports the use of biomass to produce advanced biofuels for marine, aviation and heavy road transport applications, along with applications for generating high-temperature heat of more than 100 degrees Celsius and for the production of materials that store carbon, such as construction materials.

The letter also addresses Dutch sustainability criteria, noting it will be largely based on the EU Renewable Energy Directive. The Cabinet will also advocate to include socio-economic criteria and the obligation to report carbon dioxide emissions emitted through the production and transport of biomass.

In addition, Jetten confirms that the Cabinet will not limit the sourcing of biomass to EU sources, as it has concluded that such a decision can only be made at the EU level. He also notes that discriminatory sourcing is not compliant with World Trade Organization rules.

A full copy of the report can be downloaded from the USDA FAS GAIN website. READ MORE

Excerpt from U.S. Industrial Pellet Association/Biomass Magazine: Most troubling is the move to ban the use of “primary biomass,” meaning biomass sourced directly from forests. This would effectively disqualify up to 50 percent of the feedstock used to produce sustainable biomass, and eliminate 20 percent of Europe’s renewable energy use.

Should this misguided and unnecessary provision ultimately become law, it would deal a severe blow to the EU’s ability to achieve energy security, and outright kill any chance of meeting its ambitious climate targets. The good news is that the vote represents the views of a single faction of Parliament, and any changes to existing biomass rules remain far from certain as the political process moves forward.

The EU is currently working on revisions of its climate, energy and transport-related legislation under the so-called “Fit for 55 package” in order to align existing laws with its 2030 and 2050 climate ambitions. This larger initiative triggered a review of the EU’s Renewable Energy Directive (RED), and with it an assessment of the sustainability criteria for the use of biomass.

Ultimately, any changes to biomass rules won’t be determined until well into 2023 as we are still in the early stages of the process. Parliament’s position will be finalized during a plenary vote this fall. In the meantime, further negotiations will take place between MEPs as the ITRE Committee now takes up the file. Simultaneously, the European Council is working toward its own position on RED.

Once the positions of Parliament and Council have been established, they will then join the European Commission for a Trialogue, where the three bodies work together to decide conclusively what revisions should, and should not, be made to RED. This negotiation is not expected to commence until early next year.

While it’s concerning to see any momentum to unnecessarily restrict the use of biomass, today’s vote was close with 45 MEPs in favor, 36 against and 6 abstentions. This shows a weak consensus behind amendments to limit biomass use, and foreshadows the challenges these proposals will face during ongoing negotiations.

Biomass has been a cornerstone of the EU’s climate progress to date. It has displaced millions of tons of fossil fuels – mainly coal. It supplies heat to 50 million homes and generates 40 gigawatts of reliable power, enabling the expansion of intermittent wind and solar. And yet, all leading models – including the European Commission’s own analysis – show its use must at least double in order to reach climate neutrality by 2050.

At the same time, our members continue to demonstrate that biomass can be sourced in compliance with the EU’s already strict sustainability criteria, and in a way that provides a positive impact for the environment, climate and local communities. READ MORE

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