While rapid and significant reductions in emissions must be the cornerstone of climate action, permanent carbon removals will have a role to play to achieve zero-net greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, argue Dr. Felix Schenuit and Martin Birk Rasmussen.
The EU's revised Renewable Energy Directive strengthens the sustainability criteria for biomass heat and power, but the compromise text means it might only lead to limited improvements in the short term, argue Gemma Toop and Michèle Koper.
As final negotiations on the Renewable Energy Directive are approaching, the risk is that EU policymakers will continue to treat forest wood burning as “zero-carbon” renewable energy and reward it with billions in subsidies, writes Mary S. Booth.
In its current form, the EU’s renewable energy directives encourages the use of primary woody biomass from forests as an energy source. However, the directive gives a completely wrong picture of the associated greenhouse gas emissions, write a group of academics.
Subsidies for bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) risk diverting large sums of funding to projects unlikely to benefit the climate. Instead, they should be spent on home insulation and heat pumps that will reduce carbon emissions and relieve fuel poverty, argues Almuth Ernsting.
Phasing out forest biomass as ‘renewable energy’ would yield massive benefits in terms of air pollution and climate protection, writes Mary S. Booth. To sweeten the deal, the EU should suspend fines for countries missing their renewable energy target as a consequence of efforts made, she suggests.
Advanced biofuels made from waste products do not impact land use, making them an ideal means to decarbonise the current vehicle fleet, as well as transport modes unsuited to electrification, writes Nicholas Ball.
European produced biodiesel is an available, local and ready-to-use renewable fuel that can decarbonise the EU’s heavy duty vehicles fleet. Political and regulatory obstacles currently hinder its contribution.
The EU is at the crossroads for decarbonising its transport sector. Sustainable biofuels are part of the solution but negative spill-over effects need to be addressed urgently. The “food vs. fuel” dilemma is well known for oilseed crops, less known for rendered animal fats category 3.
A new proposal from the European Parliament would declare primary woody biomass to be unsustainable, which would heavily impact the supply of bioenergy and remove the sector’s ability to provide sustainable energy, especially renewable heat this winter.
Lawmakers in the European Parliament are considering adding a biomethane mandate to the Renewable Energy Directive, a move aimed at weaning Europe off of imported fossil fuels. But in doing so they risk repeating past mistakes, argues Chelsea Baldino.
MEPs on the environment (ENVI) committee have taken a brave and principled stand by calling for an end to forest biomass counting toward renewable energy targets; for the sake of our forests, nature, and a livable climate, the rest of the European Parliament must join them, write Michal Wiezik and Zoltan Kun.
Parliament needs to realize that there is no path to shore up the EU’s energy security and achieve climate goals without the full contribution of biomass
Using forest wood to replace Russian fossil fuel imports would not only be disastrous for the environment, it would also not be a credible energy alternative, writes Karl Wagner.
A stable, flexible policy framework with a vision to facilitate investment and stimulate innovation will unleash bioenergy’s full potential as a flexible contributor towards climate neutrality that offers meaningful job creation and economic growth.
The current Bioenergy Sustainability Policy review needs to ensure clear and workable definitions, a risk-based approach, adequate time and the right level of regulatory certainty if the bioenergy sector is to successfully operationalise the resulting requirements.
While the EU maintains that ethanol has a role to play in Europe’s shift to clean transport, the production of ethanol is damaging the environment and hurting local communities in South America, argues Audrey Changoe.
The UN says reducing emissions isn’t enough to avoid the worst impacts of climate change – Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS) will need to be part of the solution.
CPOPC filed an objection to the European Commission regarding the RED II Delegated Act “on the determination of high ILUC-risk feedstock” and Implementing Act on “Sustainable biofuels, bioliquids and biomass fuels – voluntary schemes”.
The European Commission's approach to using forest wood for energy could prove a faux pas ahead of the COP26 UN climate summit in November, a dangerous move which contradicts the findings of the EU executive's own research department, writes Peg Putt.
The Netherlands is a world leader in EV charging infrastructure, thanks partly to their use of multipliers – a statistical method that encourages the use of renewable energy in transport. But the European Commission's decision to eliminate multipliers for electricity will destroy the successful Dutch model, argues William Todts.
If the Europe Union doesn’t want an explosion in the amount of wood being harvested for “renewable heat”, it’s essential that the bugs in the Renewable Energy Directive are fixed, write Samuel Thomas, Dominic Scott and Dr Jan Rosenow.
In its new Net Zero scenario, the International Energy Agency (IEA) maps a 60% increase in bioenergy by 2050. But Swapping burning wood for burning coal won’t save the climate, warns Peg Putt.
Green electricity seems set to be the transport fuel of the future, but an unwillingness to look beyond the internal combustion engine has led to a focus on biofuels. The EU should allow fuel suppliers to meet environmental targets with renewable electricity, writes Geert De Cock.
