Bioenergy makes up the majority of renewable energy in the EU and is its largest indigenous energy source. The most important feedstock is woody biomass, which accounts for nearly 70 percent and plays an ever more important role in supporting climate-smart forest management and forest resilience, a new Bioenergy Europe report suggests.
For the fourth time since its launch in 2007, the annual Statistical Report published by Bioenergy Europe is being split into different publications, each one covering a different aspect of bioenergy.
The 2022 Statistical Report Biomass Supply and the accompanying Policy Brief analyses the current state of play of forest management and various types of biomass feedstock.
Bioenergy works by unleashing the energy potential stored in organic material. Most of the feedstocks for bioenergy are residues and waste products such as branches and sawdust from forest-based industries, agricultural residues from farming, organic waste from both the food and beverage industry, and municipal waste collection.
In EU 2050 policy scenarios, the amount of waste biomass is expected to at least double, and the use of agricultural biomass is expected to at least quintuple, as a greater focus on the circular bioeconomy increases material utilization and the valorization of residues.
Woody biomass part of sustainable forest management
However, the most important feedstock is woody biomass, which according to Bioenergy Europe currently accounts for nearly 70 percent, while agricultural and waste biomass represents approximately 15 percent each.
For Europe’s forests, hotter and drier summers, together with milder winters and stronger winds are affecting forests negatively by increasing the frequency and intensity of natural disturbances such as insect infestations and wildfires.
In 2020 forests and other wooded land represented 45 percent of Europe’s total land area, and in addition to an increased forest area, forest density has also been constantly rising in Europe.
In 1990, the average forest density was 133 m3/ha, and by 2020 that number had increased by more than 30 percent to 173 m3/ha. The combination of lower forest resilience and increased frequency of extreme events is a major threat to the survival of forests, and it is important to take action to preserve these ecosystems.
A key tool in wildfire mitigation is the removal of forest residue to avoid excessive fuel load accumulation.
This forest residue is woody biomass and is the most relevant feedstock for bioenergy as it is unsuitable or unmerchantable for use in other industries because it is split, crooked, rotten, diseased, too small, or has some other defect.
PWB proposal has far reaching negative consequences
Given that woody biomass is the main resource for bioenergy, the recent Renewable Energy Directive (RED III) proposal from the European Parliament on primary woody biomass (PWB) would impact up to 35.7 percent of this feedstock.
This means that up to 20.5 percent of the EU’s renewable energy could be affected and disrupted.
As defined in the Parliament’s adopted proposal, primary woody biomass does not indicate the quality nor the end use of a material and is not an effective basis for policy decisions.
For this reason, any restrictions on primary woody biomass should be rejected and the new definition deleted from the revision of the Renewable Energy Directive. Climate-smart, sustainable forest management should be promoted to help reduce forest vulnerability while maximizing the diversity of ecosystem benefits that European forests can provide, remarked Jérémie Geelen, Market Intelligence Officer at Bioenergy Europe.
