Towards a harmonised sustainable biomass certification scheme

Jun 2007

This paper is part of a series of sustainability papers commissioned by WWF, FSC, the Dutch and the UK Governments.
The report describes the Meta-Standard approach, employed to assure the sustainability of bioenergy . The general concept as well as the main pros and cons of this approach are explained in Chapter 2 which also includes the total picture of assuring sustainable bioenergy chains. It shows that next to a Meta-Standard, two additional mechanisms are needed:a mechanism to assure and promote the GHG benefits throughout the entire bioenergy chain and a mechanism to prevent unwanted displacement effects.
Chapter 3 sets out the concrete elements which are needed for a well functioning Meta-Standard for Sustainable Biomass Production. Based on the work performed in the UK and the Netherlands the following elements are dealt with:
The environmental and social sustainability criteria which together make up the definition for ‘sustainable biomass production’.
Procedures and bodies needed to ‘accredit’ existing sustainability standards to the Meta-Standard. A selection of existing and developing sustainability standards has already been benchmarked against the Dutch and UK sustainability criteria and is discussed in this chapter. Several options are provided on how to deal with this in the early stages of a Meta-Standard and how to develop towards a more wide spread availability of biomass from certified sustainable sources.
The Meta-Standard for Sustainable Biomass Production assures the sustainability of the farm or field on which the biomass is grown. However, large scale production of biomass for bioenergy may cause unwanted displacement effects outside the farm or field on which the biomass is grown. These displacement effects form a serious and complex threat to the sustainability of large scale biomass production for bioenergy. Chapter 4 explains the relevance and workings of these displacement effects and provides options to prevent them.
Greenhouse gas emission reduction forms one of the main goals of bioenergy and for any type of bioenergy to be judged sustainable, a real reduction in greenhouse gas emissions compared to fossil energy must be achieved. Chapter 5 dicusses the need to be able to judge and stimulate the greenhouse gas emission reduction of a certain bioenergy chain, through an agreed upon greenhouse gas calculation method.
A proper functioning Chain of Custody (COC) is a practical yet essential element of any certification scheme. The COC links the production of sustainable biomass to the claim of the bioenergy sector with respect to the sustainability of the biomass they use. Chapter 6 discusses three different COC mechanisms: physical segregation, book-and-claim, and mass-balance.

By: B. Dehue, S. Meyer, C. Hamelinck (Ecofys Netherlands BV)

 
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