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Biomass combustion is currently responsible for more than 350 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per year in the European Union, that is, more than one-tenth of the total carbon emissions in the EU come from this source. However, while the report states that it is a dangerous activity for the climate and the environment, contrary to the objectives of the EU climate policy, the current EU energy policy encourages the burning of this type of biomass . However, the European Commission, as the decision-making, implementation, decision-making, monitoring and representation body of the European Union, does not propose changes to EU legislation, but considers corrective action at the national level desirable.
Most of the national energy and climate plans (NEPT) of the EU Member States, which include targets for 2030 and plans to achieve them, do not address the potential impacts of the increasing use of forest biomass on carbon sequestration, biodiversity and water and air pollution. The issue is particularly relevant in Central and Eastern Europe, where the use of firewood is the only heating option for many rural households. In Romania, for example, a 2011 study found that a total of approximately 3.5 million households burned firewood in 2009, while a 2012 Bulgarian report found that a third of the national heating demand was covered by biomass.
They have big plans
Furthermore, several countries in the region would further increase the use of biomass. Most NEPTs in the region predict an increasing use of biomass in both the industrial sector and in residential heating. Bulgaria, for example, plans to increase the use of biomass for heating by 44 percent, and it is roughly the only renewable source expected to expand by 2030. In the Balkan state, the number of households using firewood could increase by 1 , 1 million in 2016 to 1.7 million in 2030, a figure that represents 80 percent of the stock of residential real estate in the country. Including only the estimated illegal frost harvesting, Bulgaria is projected to double its biomass use by 2030 and use virtually all of the annual biomass increase for energy production.
The Hungarian energy and climate plan foresees a 50 percent increase in biomass-based electricity production (and renewable waste) by 2030, which according to the NEKT could reach 3,328 gigawatt hours that year. This could be the second most important element of the 2030 electricity mix after solar energy, while, for example, the construction of new carbon-free wind farms, which are much more respectful of the climate, the environment and health , not included in government plans at all, despite REKK’s. According to a study commissioned by the Ministry of Innovation and Technology compiling NEKT, wind power capacity could be economically multiplied by the current multiple.
In the field of heating, the Hungarian government plan foresees an increase in the use of biomass and renewable residues by approximately 40%, so that their use could reach 2,504 ktoe (kilotonnes of oil equivalent) in 2030, while Since geothermal energy use is very modest 84, it is expected to increase from 6 ktoe to only 116.6 ktoe.
The planned expansion of more than 700 ktoe in the use of biomass for heating purposes is almost ten times the planned increase in all other renewable energy sources, so the share of biomass in renewable heating would hardly decrease, from the today almost 95 percent less than 94 percent.
From an unknown source
Firewood also provides the vast majority of all household renewable energy use, but it comes from a largely uncontrollable source, REKK noted in a previous analysis. The most important finding of the analysis of the wood market in 2009 is that the consumption of firewood by the population calculated on the basis of household statistics from the OSC is four to five times higher than that calculated from official data of forest extraction. This is only possible in two ways: either households significantly overestimate their use of firewood or we burn illegally extracted wood of largely unknown origin in the country. Unfortunately, the situation has not changed recently.
More interesting findings from the European Commission report:
- According to official country data, the use of forest biomass in the EU exceeds its available resources, with up to 20% of the forest biomass burned in the EU coming from unknown sources.
- Until we know exactly how much and what type of forest biomass we use, no energy policy can be put in place to tackle the problem effectively.
- If the EU really wants to take into account the carbon sequestration capacity of forests to meet its emission reduction targets, a comprehensive reform of current land use and carbon accounting rules is essential.
- Only one of the 24 possible biomass use scenarios examined by the researchers was found to reduce CO2 emissions in the short term without compromising biodiversity, but “short term” also means that associated emissions will only be reduced in the short term. the first two decades, it would be lower than that of fossils. In the other cases, it found that the use of forest biomass had a negative impact on the climate, the environment (or biodiversity) or both.
The subject has long occupied professionals. In its open letter in Fall 2020, the European Academies Scientific Advisory Council (EASAC) urged EU lawmakers to introduce a radically new standard, as they found that the current use of European biomass is largely not carbon neutral and sustainable. Today’s carbon accounting rules in the European Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) assume that biomass is a completely carbon-neutral energy source, but according to the European academies of science, this is not the case, and the scheme ignores large amounts of emissions. The Bioenergy Europe trade association, which is interested in the biomass business, naturally disputes the claim.
Before the change in EU regulations?
WWF’s European office has harshly criticized the European Commission, saying the body is trying to shirk its responsibility when it acknowledges that the EU’s bioenergy (biomass and biogas) policy is contributing in part to climate change, but that the ball it has been left to the Member States. throwing it in half demands that they solve the problem. According to the Green Organization, the rules of the EU Renewable Energy Directive on biomass must be urgently tightened to prevent further destruction. Despite this, there is a possibility, and the European Commission is expected to take into account the conclusions of this report in its review of the EU Renewable Energy Directive in June.
In order to prevent massive deforestation and increased pressure on forests, WWF’s Bulgarian, Hungarian and Romanian organizations are working to further explore the problem and limit the expansion of the use of forest biomass for energy purposes through a program funded by the European Climate Change Initiative (EUKI). In short, the project aims to develop a set of requirements for the extraction and sustainable use of forest biomass, as well as to present possible alternatives to wood burning.
The full report can be downloaded in English here.
Cover image: Getty Images
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