Europe’s renewable energy directive poised to harm global forests

Searchinger, Timothy D.; Beringer, Tim; Holtsmark, Bjart; Kammen, Daniel M.; Lambin, Éric F.; Lucht, Wolfgang; Raven, Peter H.; Strihou, Jean-Pascal van Ypersele de

doi:10.1038/s41467-018-06175-4

Cited by 122 publications

(83 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Neither is true. This accounting fiction promotes policies that worsen climate change, even if the wood displaces coal (see also Searchinger et al 2018). The enhanced model is fully documented and freely available (see supplement).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reply to comment on ‘Does replacing coal with wood lower CO ₂ emissions? Dynamic lifecycle analysis of wood bioenergy’

Sterman

Siegel²,

Rooney‐Varga

2018

Environ. Res. Lett.

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We respond to Prisley et al's (2018 Environ. Res. Lett. 13 128002) critique of Sterman et al (2018 Environ.Res. Lett. 13 015007), which found that using wood to produce electricity can worsen climate change at least through 2100, even if wood displaces coal. The result arises because (1) wood generates more CO 2 /kWh than coal, creating an initial carbon debt;(2) regrowth of harvested land can remove CO 2 from the atmosphere, but takes time and is not certain; and (3) until the carbon debt is repaid, atmospheric CO 2 is higher, increasing radiative forcing and worsening climate change long after the initial carbon debt is repaid by new growth. We correct several errors in Prisley et al's critique, and show that our results are robust to the harvest and land management practices they prefer.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reply to comment on ‘Does replacing coal with wood lower CO ₂ emissions? Dynamic lifecycle analysis of wood bioenergy’

Sterman

Siegel²,

Rooney‐Varga

2018

Environ. Res. Lett.

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“…N.º 912 a la alimentación), no siempre ha sido sostenible y, en casos extremos pero particularmente graves, ha incentivado la deforestación y la consecuente pérdida de biodiversidad en países terceros para atender la demanda europea (EASAC, 2012;Le Page, 2016). A lo largo de los años, la UE ha ido endureciendo los requisitos para que estas formas de bioenergia sean consideradas, contabilizadas y potencialmente subvencionadas como renovables, sobre todo a través de las sucesivas Directivas de Energía Renovable aunque, para algunos científicos, de manera todavía insuficiente (Searchinger et al, 2018). Y sin embargo, la tentación de sustituir energías fósiles por biomasa sigue siendo fuerte en muchos Estados miembros, como demuestran sus planes nacionales y los comentarios críticos de la Comisión.…”

Section: La Coordinación Entre Las Diferentes Políticasunclassified

Desarrollo sostenible y competitividad: la visión de la Unión Europea

Crespo¹,

Sabadie²

2020

Revista ICE

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El crecimiento económico sostenible, aquel que conjuga competitividad y protección medioambiental, ya no es solo un ideal, sino una realidad. Esta evolución es la consecuencia, entre otras razones, de la creciente preocupación ciudadana por las crisis climática y medioambiental, así como de la evolución económica, tecnológica y social. Este artículo ofrece ejemplos de este cambio de paradigma, como los bienes y servicios ambientales, la desvinculación entre las emisiones de CO2 y el crecimiento económico, y la economía circular. Por otra parte, explica el papel de las políticas europeas para impulsarlo. Finalmente, se describen algunos problemas y desafíos a los que la Unión Europea deberá hacer frente para seguir impulsando la transición hacia una economía más sostenible, más competitiva y más justa.

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“…Other researchers come to different conclusions about the climate impacts of solid biomass, e.g. ( [6,83].…”

Section: Adequacy Of Sustainability Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Implementation of voluntary verification of sustainability for solid biomass—a case study from Denmark

2019

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Background: Renewable energy and biomass are becoming increasingly important energy sources to help mitigate climate change and meet national renewable energy targets. This will lead to a substantial growth in solid biomass consumption for heat and electricity, but questions about its sustainability have been raised. Danish energy companies have addressed these issues with sustainability criteria in a voluntary industry agreement since 2016. The aim of this study was to synthesise and evaluate biomass sourcing in the Danish energy sector and its compliance with voluntary sustainability criteria. Methods: We collected energy companies' public industry agreement sustainability reports and compiled the included information into a dataset that allowed us to compare and analyse the Danish energy sector's biomass sourcing, compliance and implementation of sustainability criteria in 2016 and 2017. Furthermore, we analysed the supply chains and feedstock use of Danish energy companies.Results: In Denmark, medium to large energy companies documented that 57% and 70% of their biomass sourcing was in compliance with the sustainability criteria in 2016 and 2017, respectively. To show compliance with the sustainability criteria, sustainable forest management certification was most common in 2016 while risk-based certification prevailed in 2017. Most biomass is sourced and reported sustainability compliance by a few large companies. Wood pellets are sustainability reported and sourced in significantly larger volumes than wood chips. Danish energy companies source solid biomass from local to global scales, but especially from countries around the Baltic Sea. Conclusions: The Danish approach to sustainable sourcing with voluntary sustainability criteria has been successfully implemented for most of the wood sourced for energy by medium to large energy companies in Denmark. The implementation of this approach shows that it has been possible within a couple of years to implement sustainability governance with risk-based criteria for multiple energy companies that source solid wood biomass at the megaton scale. A risk-based approach to implementation of sustainability criteria for forest biomass has also been chosen by the European Union (EU) and will be implemented through the EU Renewable Energy Directive from 2021.

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Europe’s renewable energy directive poised to harm global forests

Cited by 122 publications

References 18 publications

Reply to comment on ‘Does replacing coal with wood lower CO ₂ emissions? Dynamic lifecycle analysis of wood bioenergy’

Reply to comment on ‘Does replacing coal with wood lower CO ₂ emissions? Dynamic lifecycle analysis of wood bioenergy’

Desarrollo sostenible y competitividad: la visión de la Unión Europea

Implementation of voluntary verification of sustainability for solid biomass—a case study from Denmark

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Europe’s renewable energy directive poised to harm global forests

Cited by 122 publications

References 18 publications

Reply to comment on ‘Does replacing coal with wood lower CO 2 emissions? Dynamic lifecycle analysis of wood bioenergy’

Reply to comment on ‘Does replacing coal with wood lower CO 2 emissions? Dynamic lifecycle analysis of wood bioenergy’

Desarrollo sostenible y competitividad: la visión de la Unión Europea

Implementation of voluntary verification of sustainability for solid biomass—a case study from Denmark

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Reply to comment on ‘Does replacing coal with wood lower CO ₂ emissions? Dynamic lifecycle analysis of wood bioenergy’

Reply to comment on ‘Does replacing coal with wood lower CO ₂ emissions? Dynamic lifecycle analysis of wood bioenergy’