All subjects
Opinion & Commentary

Bioenergy: a solution to the current energy crisis and a sustainable future

Bioenergy: a solution to the current energy crisis and a sustainable future
Bioenergy has the potential to play a significant role in the ongoing energy transition, providing a clean, renewable source of energy that can help to reduce Europe's reliance on fossil fuels and curb greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

The high energy prices and the risk of supply shortages across the EU have made the acceleration of the green and digital transition under the European Green Deal, to ensure a secure, more affordable, resilient, and independent energy system, more urgent than ever. Bioenergy has the potential to play a significant role in the ongoing energy transition, providing a clean, renewable source of energy that can help to reduce Europe's reliance on fossil fuels and curb greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, a new report from Bioenergy Europe finds.

Bioenergy Europe has released its Bioenergy Landscape Report 2022, the final chapter of its 2022 Statistical Report, and the accompanying Policy Brief.

Focusing on the bioenergy landscape as a whole, the report provides a comprehensive overview and analysis of the current state of European energy sources, energy production and consumption, biomass trade, and sector employment.

Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine has revealed the EU’s over-dependency on foreign fossil fuels and highlighted the need to secure the autonomy of the EU’s energy system.

The high energy prices and the risk of supply shortages across the EU have made the acceleration of the green and digital transition under the European Green Deal, to ensure a secure, more affordable, resilient, and independent energy system, more urgent than ever.

Bioenergy can play a significant role

Bioenergy has the potential to play a significant role in the ongoing energy transition, providing a clean, renewable source of energy that can help to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and curb greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the report from Bioenergy Europe finds.

When looking at the overall energy mix, bioenergy makes up 56.8 percent of all renewables and 11.4 percent of the total energy mix – making it a significant provider of renewable energy.

Biomass is an important indigenous source supporting rural development and employment across the EU (graphic courtesy Bioenergy Europe).

Heating remains the main market segment for bioenergy for residential as well as industrial consumers. As the best renewable energy source in terms of direct and indirect employment, bioenergy accounts for 486 300 jobs, and its turnover in 2020 represented EUR 49.55 billion in the EU27.

The decarbonization of energy-intensive industrial processes with high temperatures and pressure requires technologies and systems that are not yet ready for the market.

In this context, bioenergy is one of the few already available solutions.

The BECCS demo plant at Stockholm Exergi
The BECCS demo plant at Stockholm Exergi.

On top of this, Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS) is also a solution to capture and permanently store carbon, achieving negative emissions.

Readily scalable solutions like PyCCS (Pyrogenic Carbon Capture and Storage), through which biochar is produced, can also fast-track the European Commission’s efforts in achieving the 2050 goals.

With such a big contribution and potential, for both people and the Planet, a “suitable policy framework should therefore be developed to better support industrial needs and allow for a thriving bioenergy sector.”

In order to provide sustainable energy that is resilient to geopolitical crises, Europe has to make use of its alternative sources, including bioenergy from solid biomass. We are now at a critical point in the transformation of our energy system: the traditional fossil fuel-based model of energy production is no longer an option remarked Ennio Prizzi, Policy Officer at Bioenergy Europe.

Most read on Bioenergy International

Get the latest news about Bioenergy

Subscribe for free to our newsletter
Sending request
I accept that Bioenergy International stores and handles my information.
Read more about our integritypolicy here