Maximising the environmental benefits of Europe's bioenergy potential |
Nov 2008
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The EU is seeking to increase the use of renewable energy in order to limit climate change and enhance the security of energy supply. In 2005, renewables accounted for 6.7% of EU's gross energy consumption; of which two thirds were biomass and waste. Significant amounts of additional bioenergy are likely to be needed to reach the legally binding renewables target of 20% of the overall EU final energy consumption by 2020 proposed by the Commission to implement the agreement reached by the European Council last year. There is also a proposal that each Member State should introduce a national minimum target of 10% for renewables in the transport sector — under the condition of production being sustainable and second generation technologies being commercially available.
This report presents various ways to optimise the benefits of bioenergy use in Europe by the years 2020 and 2030 — by identifying GHG and air emissions, and also cost-efficient methods of using biomass for each energy sector: electricity, heat and fuel.
Chapter 2 reviews the available data on the various bioenergy resources that Europe can provide and discusses life cycle analysis (LCA) approaches to estimating emissions of greenhouse gases and air pollutants related to different bioenergy pathways. Chapter 3 outlines the structure and assumptions of the Green-XENVIRONMENT model. The model is set up to find out how well bioenergy can deliver against the targets of reduced greenhouse gas emissions and increased energy security — two major objectives of European policy. Chapter 4 presents the model results, showing how the European biomass can be used in a cost-effective and environmentally efficient way. It also analyses the emitted air pollutants within the life cycle of bioenergy production. The analysis is done for individual European Member States for the years 2010, 2020 and 2030. Then the model is used to analyse the impacts of different policy strategies and priorities on the future bioenergy market, and their consequences in respect of the energy security and emissions. This chapter also analyses the possible consequences of prioritising the use of biofuels in the transport sector. Finally, the last chapter discusses the future challenges to achieving the environmentally efficient bioenergy pathways as presented in the previous chapters.
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