BOMMING BIOMASS DEMANDS HARMONISED SUSTAINABILITY STANDARDS

The EU may need to double its primary biomass supply by 2020 if member states are to meet their renewable energy targets, according to Eurelectric, the trade association for Europe’s electricity industry. This will require substantial imports and harmonised criteria on what constitutes sustainable biomass, the association says.

Current EU production of solid biomass for heat and power generation is around 82 million tonnes of oil equivalent (Mtoe) but this will increase to between 146 Mtoe and 158 Mtoe in 2020, depending on conversion efficiency rates, if member states achieve their National Renewable Energy Action Plans.

Eurelectric estimates that 120 Mtoe could be produced from within the EU by 2020, leaving a supply gap of around 25-40 Mtoe. This could be filled by imports, the association says, as sufficient biomass is available on the global market. But, it warns, availability and costs could be significantly affected if other major coal-burning countries also boost their use of biomass to reduce their carbon emissions.

The greatest potential for increasing domestic production lies in the agricultural sector, Eurelectric says, particularly from the growth of energy crops on underutilised land. It calls on policy-makers to realign support mechanisms towards the production of biomass for energy in the forthcoming reform of the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy.

Eurelectric also calls on the European Commission to introduce harmonised sustainability criteria for biomass across the EU. Without this, the association says it fears the development of separate national sustainability schemes which “will create inefficiencies, increase costs and result in a lack of transparency.” This would impede biomass trade and deter investment in the market because of uncertainty over long-term fuel supply in a changing regulatory environment, it warns.