The province of Overijssel will again invest money in biomass that involves burning wood. Financing for this was suspended last year because it could not be guaranteed that only sustainably grown wood was used. But it turns out that making demands is not allowed. According to the provincial government, biomass is 'necessary' for the energy transition and to achieve the climate challenge. A majority of provincial politicians agreed on Wednesday with the province's new 'biomass route'.
The money tap of the Overijssel Energy Fund will therefore be opened again - only for certain applications of biomass. This concerns, for example, 'process heat' in industry, for which it is expected that in the long term there will be more sustainable alternatives, based on hydrogen or electricity.
Heat applications, such as heating monumental buildings or city centres, are also an option, if no sustainable alternatives (such as heat pumps) are available. In line with a cabinet decision last month, this may not involve so-called 'woody biomass', but may include biogas, for example.
The province of Overijssel initially imposed origin requirements for the wood. But: “To our surprise, that turned out not to be allowed,” said deputy Tijs de Bree last year. This fact and the fact that new policy was being developed in The Hague were grounds for temporarily suspending the financing of biomass through the Overijssel Energy Fund.
That policy is now in place. By focusing on 'desired' applications and with the set conditions, the province believes it is now responsible to financially support biomass projects. “With this new policy, we anticipate national and European developments and provide more guidance to the biomass projects we support,” the provincial government writes in the proposal.
Photo: Province of Zeeland
Source: rtvoost.nl
