Finland is the second EU Member State to celebrate its 2024 National Bioenergy Day on this year's listing of Bioenergy Europe's National Bioenergy Days. Bioenergy is Finland's largest renewable energy source. The country has excellent opportunities to capture biogenic carbon dioxide from the forest industry, other biorefineries, and energy production facilities enabling radical emissions reduction through carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS).
The European Bioenergy Day campaign aims to shed light on the increasingly central role that sustainable biomass is playing in the EU’s energy transition.
According to Bioenergy Europe, bioenergy is a vital component of the EU’s energy system and economy, producing 85 percent of the EU’s renewable heat, representing alone one-third of renewable energy sector jobs, and saving enough carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions to cover the annual emissions of Spain.
Awareness campaign
The campaign provides key facts on biomass and the bioenergy industry and celebrates people, projects, and companies contributing to achieving European carbon neutrality.
In the past years, Bioenergy Europe launched the European Bioenergy Day campaign to provide tangible, first-hand examples of how bioenergy impacts the lives of EU citizens.
This year’s motto is “Our Shared Steps Towards the Energy Transition” and the European Bioenergy Day campaign aims to share these stories, highlighting how bioenergy supports the local (bio)economy, fosters innovation, and boosts the EU’s competitiveness.
As the EU advances towards its climate goals, bioenergy continues to expand its role as a key ally in the transition.
The new EU mandate will address critical issues such as climate change, energy security, and the rising cost of living.
In this context, bioenergy is a key ally for the EU’s economy, sustainability, and energy security.
Bioenergy offers a viable alternative to fossil fuels and it is a key player in carbon dioxide removal (CDR) technology thanks to bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS), and biochar through pyrolysis with carbon capture and storage (PyCCS).
Facts
Background European Bioenergy Day
First launched in 2018, the European Bioenergy Day campaign is powered by Bioenergy Europe and relayed across Europe by both national and international partners supporting the belief that bioenergy is more than a renewable energy source, but a reliable path that will lead Europe to achieve its renewable energy transition.
Each year, Bioenergy Europe calculates the Bioenergy Day of the European Union (EU) and each Member State, showing how long a Member State or the EU could meet their energy needs using only bioenergy until the end of the year.
Every National Bioenergy Day is accompanied by a story, showcasing the impact of bioenergy in the EU, whereas the European Bioenergy Day is highlighted at the annual European Bioenergy Future conference.
Bioenergy key for CCUS
Bioenergy is Finland’s largest renewable energy source and it plays a crucial role in heat production and transportation. It is also key to reaching climate targets, not just for reducing emissions but because it enables carbon capture, utilization, and storage – bioenergy and CCUS.
According to Erika Laajalahti at the Finnish Bioenergy Association (Bioenergia), Finland has excellent opportunities to capture biogenic CO2 from the forest industry, other biorefineries, waste-to-energy (WtE) plants, anaerobic digestion (AD) – and biomethane (aka renewable natural gas – RNG) production facilities.
Approximately 28 million tonnes of biogenic CO2 are generated annually from large point sources, just slightly less than the total fossil emissions from the Finnish energy sector in 2022.
Long-term storage of biogenic carbon dioxide enables facilities to achieve negative emissions, permanently removing CO2 from the atmosphere, but requires incentives.
There are already announced plans for 16 carbon capture projects across Finland. In these planned projects, the CO2 will be primarily used to produce synthetic fuels (electro-fuels), which can replace fossil fuels in transportation and industry.
The total amount of CO2 planned to be captured and utilized in these projects is around 1 – 1.5 million tonnes, so there is plenty of additional potential for different solutions.
For most of these planned projects, the CO2 will be utilized near the capture facility. However, this is not possible in all cases, and the captured CO2 will need to be transported elsewhere for use or storage.
In such cases, well-designed infrastructure is crucial for final investment decisions (FIDs) and the development of the entire industrial ecosystem.
The CO2 infrastructure includes the necessary intermediate storage facilities inland and, on the coast, as well as transportation via pipeline, rail, or trucks.
