Bioenergy: Briefing note
Driving to destruction
This study analyses the likely impacts on land use and greenhouse gas emissions of biofuel use by 2020, as projected in recently published National Renewable Energy Action Plans in 23 EU member states. The analysis includes evidence on size and impacts of ‘indirect land use change’ (ILUC) resulting from biofuel use.
It is the most comprehensive study to date to quantify these eff ects. The study reveals that the EU’s plans for biofuels will result in the conversion of up to 69 000 square kilometres (km2) of land to agricultural use due to ILUC. This will potentially put forests, other natural ecosystems, and poor communities at risk. Land conversion on such a scale will lead to the release of carbon emissions from vegetation and soil, making biofuels more damaging to the climate than the fossil fuels they are designed to replace.
| Document | Size |
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 ILUC-NAPs Briefing.pdf | 379.25 KB |
Increased use of biomass: recommendations for ensuring it is environmentally responsible and socially just
Biomass has always been an important source of energy, but whether it is a renewable source depends on many issues including how it is produced. As the EU renewable energy targets will give biomass use for energy purposes a significant boost, there is a need for an ambitious set of criteria guaranteeing that biomass is effectively contributing to the reduction of greenhouse gases without leading to negative environmental and social impacts. If these criteria are decided upon in isolation without taking into account the need to further reduce our energy consumption and the competing future demands on land and resources, such criteria could have serious negative consequences.
| Document | Size |
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| FERN_Increased use of biomass-final.pdf | 1.26 MB |
Volunteering for disaster - Why biomass criteria must be ambitious and legally binding
As 2009 draws to a close, the European Commission is finalising its report on a sustainability scheme for biomass, but considering voluntary recommendations rather than binding biomass criteria. This short briefing explains why having voluntary rather than obligatory criteria will inevitably lead to wide variations between EU Member State schemes. Many analysts expect that the coming years will see increased demand for wood for energy production, and if there are no binding criteria attached to a further mobilisation of wood, this could lead to serious harm for forests in the EU. Moreover, a lack of binding criteria in the EU could lead to ancient forests outside the EU being opened up, and this is in total contradiction with previous EU initiatives to combat deforestation.
| Document | Size |
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| Volunteering for disaster.pdf | 561.14 KB |
Snake oil or climate cure - The effect of public funding on European bioenergy
If European Union targets are met, by the year 2020, 20 per cent of the EU’s energy consumption will come from renewable sources. In an attempt to achieve this target, the EU is investing heavily in new sources of energy, including bioenergy. This briefing note examines where public funding for the bioenergy sector is coming from, where it is going, and what the effects of this investment might be on the environment.
| Document | Size |
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| snake oil or climate cure.pdf | 782.36 KB |
When the solution is the problem: the EU and its policies on agrofuels
This briefing paper briefly describes the two sides of the agrofuels issue and analyses the present EU debate. It concludes that the present EU policy is misguided and strongly advocates dropping the 10 per cent target while stressing the need to develop a truly sustainable transport policy.
| Document | Size |
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| OPEN | 688.07 KB |
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