Extending the<scp>EU R</scp>enewable<scp>E</scp>nergy<scp>D</scp>irective sustainability criteria to solid bioenergy from forests

Fritsche, Uwe R.; Iriarte, Liliana; Jong, Johnny de; Agostini, Alessandro; Scarlat, Nicolae

doi:10.1111/1477-8947.12042

Cited by 12 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…-Therefore, soils with low fertility and smaller nutrient pools are more subject to suffer from the removal of residues and nutrients (Fritsche et al, 2014). -Stumps contain a small fraction of macronutrients, but coarse roots are responsible for significant inputs of nitrogen and potassium to the soil (Moffat et al, 2011).…”

Section: Impact Category Potential Risks/benefits Mitigation Measuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nitrogen is almost completely lost during combustion, so it is not present in ashes and will need to be supplied via synthetic or organic fertilisers. Experimental data have shown increased growth rates in fertilised forests, but guidelines in some countries still advise against synthetic forest fertilisation (Fritsche et al, 2014;Stupak et al, 2007). Avoid extraction on rocky, dry and poor soils (Lamers et al, 2013;Wall, 2012) Soil health and productivity ¼ Many studies have shown results that are not statistically different when comparing trees grown on sites where residues are either collected or left on floor.…”

Section: Impact Category Potential Risks/benefits Mitigation Measuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Finally, concerns over the impact of an increased removal of logging residues on forest ecosystems were raised and guidelines and mitigation measures have been proposed (IEA, 2014;Lamers et al, 2013;Fritsche et al, 2014;Sikkema et al, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Domestic heating from forest logging residues: environmental risks and benefits

Giuntoli

Caserini

Luisa

et al. 2015

Journal of Cleaner Production

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The European Union (EU) relies largely on bioenergy to achieve its climate and energy targets for 2020\ud and beyond. Special focus is placed on utilization of biomass residues, which are considered to cause low\ud environmental impacts.\ud We used the dataset from the latest European Commission document on the sustainability of solid and\ud gaseous biomass (SWD2014 259), complementing those results by: i) designing three pathways for\ud domestic-heat production using forest logging residues, with different combustion technologies; ii)\ud expanding the analysis to include forest carbon stock development with and without bioenergy; iii)\ud using absolute climate metrics to assess the surface temperature response by the end of the century to a\ud bioenergy and a reference fossil system; iv) including multiple climate forcers (well-mixed GHG, near\ud term climate forcers and surface albedo change); iv) quantifying life cycle impacts on acidification,\ud particulate matter emissions and photochemical ozone formation; v) reviewing potential risks for forest\ud ecosystem degradation due to increased removal of residues.\ud Supply-chain GHG savings of the three pathways analysed ranged between 80% and 96% compared to a\ud natural gas system, above the 70% threshold suggested by the EU. However, the climate impact of bioenergy\ud should be assessed by considering also the non-bioenergy uses of the biomass and by including\ud all climate forcers.\ud We calculate the Surface Temperature Response to bioenergy and fossil systems by means of Absolute\ud Global surface Temperature Potential (AGTP) metric. Domestic heating from logging residues is generally\ud beneficial to mitigate the surface temperature increase by 2100 compared to the use of natural gas and\ud other fossil sources. As long as residues with a decay rate in the forest higher than 2.7%*yr1 are\ud considered as feedstock, investing now in the mobilization of residues for heat production can reduce the\ud temperature increase by 2100 compared to all the fossil sources analysed, both in case of bioenergy as a\ud systemic change or in case of bioenergy as a transitory option.\ud Furthermore, several environmental risks are associated with the removal and use of forest logging\ud residues for bioenergy. These issues concern mostly local air pollution, biodiversity loss and, mainly for\ud stumps removal, physical damage to forest soils.\ud Forest logging residues are not free of environmental risks. Actions promoting their use should\ud consider: (i) that climate change mitigation depends mainly on the decay rate of biomass under natural\ud decomposition and time and rate of technology deployment, (ii) whether management guidelines aimed\ud at protecting long-term forest productivity are in place and (iii) whether proper actions for the management\ud of adverse effects on local air pollution are in place

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Section: Impact Category Potential Risks/benefits Mitigation Measuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Impact Category Potential Risks/benefits Mitigation Measuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Domestic heating from forest logging residues: environmental risks and benefits

Giuntoli

Caserini

Luisa

et al. 2015

Journal of Cleaner Production

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“…Regarding intensification, on the other hand, sensitive issues are, among others, those connected to the intensive utilization of meadows [45] or the use of wood biomass for energy supplies [46][47][48]. These days, in fact, there is increasing interest in the use of wood as a source of energy in order to reach the European objective regarding renewable energy sources [49,50].…”

Section: A Problem Of Governancementioning

confidence: 99%

Balancing Economic Development and Environmental Conservation for a New Governance of Alpine Areas

Cantiani

Geitner

Haida³

et al. 2016

Sustainability

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Abstract:In the Alpine environment, Man has always been directly dependent on mountain ecosystems. Social mechanisms have created specific models of governance, capable of assuring the persistence of ecosystems and their capacity to provide essential goods and services. In recent decades, however, dramatic changes have occurred, such as climate change and changes in land use. The complexity common to all linked human-natural environment systems is extremely marked in the Alpine areas and this makes it difficult to understand how resilient these systems may be. Many research questions arise, in particular as to the comprehension and quantification of the impact of changes on the capacity of ecosystems to produce goods and services in a sustainable way, and the possibility of local mechanisms of governance to adapt to both current and future changes. Reasons and effects of change are analysed from the perspective of the specific issues of governance. The importance of the Ecosystems Services (ESs) concept is acknowledged and the necessity for a dynamic assessment of ESs, taking into account people's values and expectations, is particularly stressed. Through a careful analysis of selected papers and case studies, the main gaps in current knowledge are identified and directions for further research are provided.

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“…Voluntary forest biomass harvesting guidelines Guidance on reducing impacts of different woody biomass cultivation and harvesting systems, e.g., in Finland, France, Germany, several Canadian and US (see e.g., [30]). …”

Section: Voluntary Forest Certification Schemesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainability Criteria and Indicators for the Bio-Based Economy in Europe: State of Discussion and Way Forward

Fritsche¹,

Iriarte²

2014

Energies

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Abstract:There is a strong interest in the EU to promote the bioeconomy sector within the EU 2020 strategy. It is thus necessary to assure a sound sustainability framework. This paper reviews international and European sustainability initiatives mainly for biomass for bioenergy. The basic and advanced sustainability indicators are identified and described with particular attention to those points without agreement between stakeholders. Based on the state of the discussion, some suggestions to enhance the sustainable development of the bioeconomy sector are proposed.

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Extending theEU RenewableEnergyDirective sustainability criteria to solid bioenergy from forests

Cited by 12 publications

References 18 publications

Domestic heating from forest logging residues: environmental risks and benefits

Domestic heating from forest logging residues: environmental risks and benefits

Balancing Economic Development and Environmental Conservation for a New Governance of Alpine Areas

Sustainability Criteria and Indicators for the Bio-Based Economy in Europe: State of Discussion and Way Forward

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