Revision of EU ETS by ITRE

The ITRE committee published its amendments to the draft opinion for the Emissions Trading System. A number of them refer to the alteration of a threshold to exclude installations with 95% of emissions from sustainable biomass from the EU ETS (130, 131, 132, 133). The ENVI committee presented its draft report last week. Bioenergy Europe has, in cooperation with Euroheat & Power, forwarded this week a proposition of amendments to key MEPs proposing to increase the exclusion threshold for biomass. For more information, please contact Michal Dlugosz.

Presentation of Sustainable Carbon Cycles to AGRI

On 2 February, Christan Holzleitner, the Head of Unit for Land Use and Finance for Innovation at DG CLIMA presented on the Commission’s proposal on the Communication on the Sustainable Carbon Cycles to the AGRI Committee at the European Parliament. Holzleitner’s presentation focused on how carbon farming could be promoted and how land managers could benefit from clear guidelines which would support and strengthen carbon markets. He said that the right certification system would be important for the system to work and that a public consultation would be opened for this. For more information, please contact Daniel Reinemann.    

AGRI amendments on REDIII Draft Opinion

The AGRI committee published the first part of amendments tabled on the revision of the REDIII. Several MEPs advocated for a fairer framework to ensure bioenergy operators are aligned with the transition. Once the full list of amendments will be available the Secretariat will share a more detailed analysis and planned next steps. For more information, please contact Irene di Padua.

Call for Evidence for Certification of Carbon Removals

The European Commission launched a call for evidence on the certification of carbon removals. Feedback can be submitted until 2 May 2022. The exercise will help assess the main objectives of the certification system framework, of which a proposal is expected by the Commission in Q4 2022. Additionally, the recordings and presentations from last week’s conference on Sustainable Carbon Cycles are available. For more information, please contact Michal Dlugosz.

Carbon Removal Task Force Meeting

On Tuesday, the first meeting of the newly established Task Force Carbon Dioxide Removal was held. Main points of discussion included a presentation of the task force, relevant legislative files and an exchange between participants on which legislative tool would serve best to support the deployment of BECCS and biochar. Slides can be found here. For more information, please contact Michal Dlugosz.

Annual Report Bioenergy Europe

Bioenergy Europe is pleased to announce the release of its Annual Report. This yearly collection of infographics showcases the work of all departments in key figures, from membership, advocacy, market intelligence to the development of our certification schemes.
Download the full report

WG Agro-biomass Meeting

During the last meeting of the WG Agro-biomass on 1 February, a policy update and new funding opportunities for agro-biomass were presented, together with an overview of the Polish agro-biomass market. The business case of EPBiH power utility and innovative models to predict ash-related issues in biomass and waste combustion were also presented. The slides can be found here. For more information, please contact Gilles Gauthier. 

Sustainable Carbon Cycles Conference

The Commission organised a one-day event to look at carbon cycles and consider how to promote carbon removals. Sessions focused on nature-based solutions, industrial solutions, carbon farming, and carbon credits. Video recordings of the sessions will be available in the next few days. The Commission is preparing legislation that would create a legal framework for carbon removals with a public consultation to be opened this quarter. For more information, please contact Daniel Reinemann.

ENVI Committee Meeting on REDIII

The European Parliament’s Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) met on Wednesday, 2 February between 9:00 –12:00 for the exchange of views on REDIII (full agenda). This was an important opportunity for MEPs to discuss the file ahead of the deadline for tabling amendments in the ENVI committee on 9 February. Bioenergy Europe’s Secretariat has prepared a brief summary of the debate. For more information, please contact Daniel Reinemann.   

Informal Energy and Environment Minister Meetings

Last week, the French Presidency of the Council hosted informal meetings for energy and environmental ministers to discuss a range of topics, including “The role of forests and the wood sector in environmental, energy and climate policies”. The negotiations on the LULUCF regulation and REDIII in particular were part of the discussions. Ministers in general agreed that forest carbon sinks will play a major role in achieving climate neutrality, that recycling and energy recovery of biomass wastes should be improved, and that the cascading principle is important and should be applied with proper judgement. Generally, a joint approach of both energy and environmental ministries was seen as a steppingstone to get out of a “silo approach”.