Background

The European Union has set the ambitious targets to increase the share of Renewable Energy Sources (RES) in gross inland consumption. At the Spring meeting of the European Council in Brussels on 8-9 March 2007, the EU heads of state endorsed binding targets to have 20% of the EU's overall energy consumption come from renewable energies by 2020 and to establish, subjected to some conditions, a minimum target of 10% of the petrol and diesel market to be represented by biofuels by 2020. Unlike other renewable energy sources, biomass is equally suited for electricity generation, heating and cooling, and fuels for transport. Currently, bioenergy is the main renewable energy source, contributing to about two thirds of renewable energy production in the EU.

Agriculture and forestry can, therefore, make a key contribution to an increasing share of renewables in Europe. However, that implies the co-ordination of different policies regarding agriculture, environment and rural development. Achieving maximum energy gains and additional income for rural areas and minimising the potential threat of biomass production (e.g. additional pressures on biodiversity, soil and water resources) requires careful planning on EU, national and local level.

Policy framework

The policy framework for encouraging bioenergy has several underlying objectives. First and foremost, the EU aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, reduce its dependence on imported fossil fuels, and diversify its sources of energy supply. However, bioenergy policies are also directed towards generating employment in agricultural and rural areas and promoting innovation and technological development.

The most important legislative developments are the 2001 Directive on the promotion of electricity produced from renewable energy sources and the 2003 Biofuels Directive. The Biofuels Directive went beyond previous legislation on renewable energy to establish a specific target for the use of biofuels. In 2005, the Commission adopted the Biomass Action Plan, and in 2006 the Strategy for Biofuels, both of which aimed to improve both the supply and demand for biomass.

Bioenergy support has also been introduced in the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). The CAP offers an energy crop premium payment on top of a producer’s decoupled farm payments for biomass if it is to be processed on the farm or if it is produced under contract with a processor. The CAP also allows producers to raise energy crops on set-aside land. Rural Development policy has also addressed bioenergy issues: investments in bioenergy on or near farms - which may include capital costs for setting up biomass production - are eligible for support from the European Union.

However, the ambitious targets on bioenergy and biofuels in the European Union are under growing critizism, since particularly imported biofuels from countries like Brazil and Indonesia are feared to be associated with major environmental (e.g. by deforestation, huge monocultures of biofuel crops such as sugar cane or soy, high water use etc.) and social problems (food security, land rights etc.).

In response, the European Commission plans to introduce a legislative proposal aimed at encouraging the use of biofuel production systems that are produced in a sustainable way. Several global initiatives are also discussing the development of a certification system and other ways to implement sustainability standards (e.g. the Global Bioenergy Partnership and the EPFL-facilitated, multi-stakeholder roundtable process on biofuels).