European Parliament calls for better regulation of energy from biomass

By Amelia Kelly | 13 July 2022 | Add a Comment

Today (13 July), the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) – European Parliaments' lead committee on the revision of the Renewable Energy Directive (RED) – has called for Member States to ensure that the energy from biomass is produced in a way that minimises distortive effects on the raw material market.

biomass This also aims to reduce harmful impacts on biodiversity, the environment and the climate. Member States will be required to take the waste hierarchy and the cascading principle into account.

ITRE’s measures will also require Member States to stop supporting the production of energy generated from the incineration of waste if the separate collection and the waste hierarchy obligations, outlined in the Waste Framework Directive, have not been followed.

To allow non-renewable energy sources to contribute towards the EU renewables targets, the committee also decided to keep recycling carbon fuels, such as potentially plastic based fuels, as part of the Renewable Energy Directive.

A recent study, researching the ‘utilisation of oils produced from plastic waste at different pyrolysis temperatures in a DI diesel engine’, showed that plastic-derived fuel produces higher exhaust emissions compared to diesel.

Janek Vähk, Climate, Energy and Air Pollution Programme Coordinator at Zero Waste Europe, said: “Although a step in the right direction, the proposed criteria is a weak qualifier, given that, at incineration plants, the ‘biodegradable waste’, is never combusted without fossil-derived materials present.

“Thus, it remains possible for ‘renewable energy’ to be generated while emitting large quantities of fossil-derived CO2. Incineration plants are already the most carbon intense source of power in some Member States.

“We call for the criteria for the use of wastes to be improved so that no support for renewable energy is offered for the combustion of mixed waste”.

Lauriane Veillard, Policy Officer on Chemical Recycling and Plastic-to-Fuels at Zero Waste Europe, added: “Why does the European Parliament keep recycled carbon fuels as part of Renewable Energy Directive, when the definition itself recognizes the non-renewable sources of these fuels?

“This is greenwashing and will strongly undermine efforts to decarbonise the transport sector. We call on co-legislators to fully exclude the use of fossil based-fuels as part of the RED.”