Abstract
As the main driver for bioenergy is to enable society to transform to more sustainable fuel and energy production systems, it is important to safeguard that bioenergy deployment happens within certain sustainability constraints. There is currently a high number of initiatives, including binding regulations and several voluntary sustainability standards for biomass, bioenergy and/or biofuels. Within IEA Bioenergy studies were performed to monitor the actual implementation process of sustainability regulations and certification, evaluate how stakeholders are affected and envisage the anticipated impact on worldwide markets and trade. On the basis of these studies, recommendations were made on how sustainability requirements could actually support further bioenergy deployment. Markets would gain from more harmonization and cross-compliance. A common language is needed as ‘sustainability’ of biomass involves different policy arenas and legal settings. Policy pathways should be clear and predictable, and future revisions of sustainability requirements should be open and transparent. Sustainability assurance systems (both through binding regulations and voluntary certification) should take into account how markets work, in relation to different biomass applications (avoiding discrimination among end-uses and users). It should also take into account the way investment decisions are taken, administrative requirements for smallholders, and the position of developing countries.
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Notes
- 1.
FAO = the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; GBEP = Global Bioenergy Partnership; UNEP = United Nations Environment Programme; IFC = International Finance Corporation (World Bank Group); IDB = Inter-American Development Bank.
- 2.
Converted according to the RED = land that had the status of continuously forested areas, wetlands or peatlands in January 2008 and no longer has that status.
- 3.
Since 19 July 2011, the EC has recognised voluntary schemes for biofuels, applying directly in the 27 EU Member States: ISCC, Bonsucro, RTRS, RSB, 2BSvs, RBSA, Greenergy, Ensus, Red Tractor, SQC, Red Cert, NTA8080, RSPO. http://ec.europa.eu/energy/renewables/biofuels/sustainability_schemes_en.htm
- 4.
COM(2012)595, Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 98/70/EC relating to the quality of petrol and diesel fuels and amending Directive 2009/28/EC on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources. October 2012.
- 5.
Current iLUC emission factors are 12 g CO2eq/MJ for cereals, 13 g CO2eq/MJ for sugars and 55 g CO2eq/MJ for oil crops (for reference, the fossil fuel comparator is 83.8 g CO2eq/MJ). Biofuels made from feedstocks that do not lead to additional demand for land, such as those from waste feedstocks, should be assigned a zero emissions factor.
- 6.
COM(2010)11, Report from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament on sustainability requirements for the use of solid and gaseous biomass sources in electricity, heating and cooling. February 2010.
- 7.
Results available at http://www.bioenergytrade.org/publications.html. See also Goovaerts et al. 2013, Stupak et al. 2013, Goh et al. 2013 and Pelkmans et al. 2013.
- 8.
Certified products are physically segregated from non-certified products at every facility along the supply chain.
- 9.
The amount of certified product sourced and sold by each supply chain actor is tracked. However, the certified product and associated documentation do not need to be sold together. The certified product can either be segregated (site level or tank level mass balance) or not (company level mass balance).
- 10.
Vertical integration means that energy producers try to control certain parts of the supply chain, e.g. through investments in plantations or pellet facilities.
- 11.
See http://www.globalbioenergy.org/programmeofwork/working-group-on-capacity-building-for-sustainable-bioenergy/en/ and a framework agreed to by GBEP participants on indicators to guide and measure the government programs and policies in the development of biomass and bioenergy http://www.globalbioenergy.org/fileadmin/user_upload/gbep/docs/Indicators/The_GBEP_Sustainability_Indicators_for_Bioenergy_FINAL.pdf
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Pelkmans, L. et al. (2014). The Role of Sustainability Requirements in International Bioenergy Markets. In: Junginger, M., Goh, C., Faaij, A. (eds) International Bioenergy Trade. Lecture Notes in Energy, vol 17. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6982-3_6
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