The cabinet has adopted the SER advice on bio-raw materials. The NVDE thinks this is wise. It is important to reach a compromise so that we argue less and do more. This requires that everyone has clarity. The road to 'Paris' is still long and it is good that bio raw materials remain part of it - with strict criteria and more focus on the development of alternatives. The latter requires more effort.
The government, like the SER and the NVDE, states that sustainable bio raw materials are an indispensable building block for making our energy and materials more sustainable. It is important that the government offers companies sufficient investment security. This means more incentive for application in the chemicals and materials sector and for the strengthening of alternative heating options. It is good that the discussion about a possible phase-out path for application in heating networks is linked to an analysis of the possibilities and limitations of other sustainable alternatives. Without a build-up path for these alternatives, a reduction path will lead to more (Russian) natural gas, which the NVDE considers undesirable.
The Dutch Sustainable Energy Association (NVDE) indicated earlier to find the SER advice workable, because it confirms that bio-based raw materials are needed to achieve the climate goals. The agreements in the Climate Agreement must remain intact.
Commitment to materials, chemistry and high-quality energy
The SER advice emphasizes that bio-raw materials should be used more for (building) materials and chemistry, and also for high-quality energy applications such as high-temperature heat in industry. The NVDE agrees with this, noting that commitment to materials and chemistry also offers synergy with energy applications (cascading and biorefinery). After all, the production of building materials from wood, for example, produces countless by-products and residual flows that can easily be used for energy. The NVDE calls on the government to come up with more concrete proposals to stimulate high-quality applications. Parties need clarity about this in order to invest.
Development of alternatives
The use of (woody) biomass in heating networks is the subject of many social discussions. However, sustainable bio-raw materials for energy cannot be phased out without building up other sustainable alternatives. After all, falling back on natural gas is not a sustainable alternative. It is therefore good that the government links the exploration of a feasible phase-out path to an analysis of the possibilities and limitations of alternative sustainable options, the possibilities to improve their prospects, and the implications thereof for their rebuilding path. Additional policy will be needed to offer these alternatives sufficient opportunity: the SDE++ is already too tight for this.
Emission and sustainability requirements
“Bio raw materials are needed to achieve the climate goals for 2030,” says Olof van der Gaag, director of NVDE. “The NVDE supports the proposals for strengthening the sustainability requirements; We have also been advocating for tightening the standards for local emissions for some time. This requires significant additional efforts from the sector. However, he does need sufficient investment security to be able to get started with this. The government may take an extra step on that point,” says Van der Gaag. The NVDE welcomes the intention to apply adequate sustainability criteria for all types of biomass flows. We emphasize that it must also remain practically feasible to meet those criteria. It would help if sustainability requirements were imposed on all biomass flows, even when they are not used for energy. In any case, a good step is for the government to focus on sustainable trade in bio raw materials: fair trade offers more perspective than fair share.
Here you will find the cabinet letter 'sustainability framework for bio-raw materials'.
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