Jessica Marcus, vice president, policy and operations, US Industrial Pellet Association, wrote an op-ed in biomassmagazine.com on the revision of EU biomass regulations.
At a time when Europe needs as much affordable, sustainable and safe energy as possible, last week's vote by the European Parliament's ENVI committee to limit the use of biomass makes little sense. Most worrying is the move to ban the use of 'primary biomass', that is, biomass that comes directly from forests. This would effectively disqualify up to 50 percent of the feedstock for sustainable biomass production and eliminate 20 percent of Europe's renewable energy use.
Should this misguided and unnecessary provision ultimately become law, it would deal a major blow to the EU's ability to ensure energy security and would outright destroy any chance of meeting its ambitious climate targets. The good news is that the vote represents the views of a single group of Parliament, and any changes to existing biomass rules remain far from certain as the political process progresses.
The EU is currently working on revisions to its climate, energy and transport-related legislation under the so-called “Fit for 55 package” to align existing legislation with its climate ambitions for 2030 and 2050. This larger initiative led to a revision of the EU Renewable Energy Directive (RED), and thus an assessment of the sustainability criteria for the use of biomass.
Ultimately, any changes to the biomass rules will not be determined until well into 2023, as we are still in the early stages of the process. Parliament's position will be determined in a plenary vote this autumn. In the meantime, further negotiations will take place between Members of the European Parliament as the ITRE committee is now considering the file. At the same time, the European Council is working on its own position on RED.
Once the positions of Parliament and the Council have been established, they will join the European Commission for a trilogue, where the three bodies will work together to finally decide which revisions should and should not be made to RED. These negotiations are not expected to begin until early next year.
While it is worrying to see some momentum towards unnecessarily limiting biomass use, today's vote was close with 45 MEPs in favour, 36 against and 6 abstentions. This shows that there is a weak consensus on amendments to limit the use of biomass, and foreshadows the challenges these proposals will face in the ongoing negotiations.
Biomass has been a cornerstone of the EU's climate progress so far. It has displaced millions of tons of fossil fuels, mainly coal. It provides heat to 50 million homes and generates 40 gigawatts of reliable power, enabling the expansion of intermittent wind and solar energy. And yet all leading models – including the European Commission's own analysis – show that its use must at least double to achieve climate neutrality by 2050.
At the same time, our members continue to demonstrate that biomass can be sourced in accordance with the EU's already strict sustainability criteria, and in a way that has a positive impact on the environment, climate and local communities.
The case for biomass is stronger than ever and the process of rethinking its role in the EU's energy transition has only just begun. We are confident that the EU will continue its long-standing recognition of biomass as a key climate solution and support its much-needed expansion to achieve the climate ambitions we all share.
Source: biomassmagazine.com
