Registration is now open for the 4th edition of the European Conference Biomass PowerON! Taking place in Hamburg, Germany on 28-29 September, it will feature companies, commodity traders energy consultancies, regulatory and research experts, and many more. Organised by FORTES, the focus will be on using biomass in residential heating and power generation. This is a wonderful opportunity to showcase your products, attend workshops and network with industry leaders! Download the agenda here.
The Secretariat has received an answer from the EC to the open letter that was sent to high-level EU representatives, urging them to properly include bioenergy in the REPowerEU Communication and signed by more than 500 CEOs and high-level representatives from the bioenergy value-chain. For more information, please contact Irene di Padua.
The Agriculture and Rural Development (AGRI) committee approved the new Forest Strategy passed with 30 votes in favour, 2 opposed, and 10 abstentions. The Strategy recognises the multifunctional role of forests and stresses the importance and diversity of EU forests, calling for sustainable management practices to be developed with forest owners. A vote on the Strategy is expected in the Plenary in September. For more information, please contact Daniel Reinemann.
+ The ITRE Committee vote on REDIII is being held today and will be closely followed by the Secretariat. The draft proposal is an improvement from the Commission’s document; however, the Committee will not vote on any provisions related to biomass sustainability criteria due to ENVI’s exclusive competence over these sections. The proposal is expected to be put to a Plenary vote in September. For more information, please contact Daniel Reinemann.
+ In today’s committee meeting, the ITRE Committee also voted on the Energy Efficiency Directive recast (EED) and adopted the opinion. The final text will be voted on in Plenary in September. For more information, please contact Irene di Padua.
The call for small-scale projects is open until 31 August. As a reminder, the budgetary envelope being allocated (EUR 100 million) would finance at least 22 projects (in case each project requests the maximum grant amount possible). Potential applicants can assess through a self-check questionnaire if their project fits the objectives of the fund. Under the REPowerEU Plan, the Commission will double the funding for the next Innovation Fund large-scale call to ~ EUR 3 billion.
On 28 June, the International Renewable Energy Agency IRENA hosted a webinar on Sustainable Bioenergy for the Energy Transition. The event consisted of two panels on bioenergy upscaling and sustainability, featuring Bioenergy Europe, the World Bioenergy Association WBA and the European Commission, among other speakers. For more information, please reach out to Irene di Padua.
The Council finalised its general approach on the Renewable Energy Directive (REDIII) and the Energy Efficiency Directive (EED). Once the Parliament adopts its position in the Plenary (foreseen to take place after summer), discussions will move forward to the Trialogues where agreement on the final legislative text will be reached. For more information, please reach out to Irene di Padua.
The Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) will likely vote on the REDIII proposal on 13 July. The draft shows several improvements, but we are still concerned by the ENVI proposal on primary woody biomass, for which ITRE should take action, considering the overreach of Art.2. To support your bilateral exchanges with policymakers, the Secretariat has prepared a position paper on primary woody biomass. For more information, please reach out to Irene di Padua.
The Secretariat is hosting an ad-hoc meeting on 8 June 10:00-11:30 to go over the REDIII revision and the vote on the ENVI opinion, share our suggestions for the ITRE report, and coordinate our outreach efforts. For more information, please contact Irene di Padua.
The European Parliament is set to debate the Land-use, Land-use Change, and Forestry (LULUCF) Regulation on 7 June and likely to vote it on 9 June. The regulation would set an annual removal target of 310 million tons of CO2 for 2030 to be augmented by an additional 50 million tons of carbon farming and would keep the agricultural and LULUCF sectors separate. For more information, please contact Daniel Reinemann.
