Details

Title:

Local/Regional Environmental Impacts of (Solid) Biofuels - Evaluation of Certification Scheme Indicators

Author(s):

Meyer, M.A., Priess, J.A.

Document(s):

Abstract:

To a large extent, environmental sustainability of biofuel production systems is determined with life­cycle assessments, corresponding to the processing steps of supply chains considering environmental effects such as greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions or air pollutants. However, local/regional environmental impacts require additional site­specific and flexible options for the assessment of environmental and other aspects of sustainability such as criteria and indicators (C&I) on water use or biodiversity in bioenergy certification schemes. Against the background of the planned inclusion of solid biofuels in the EU Renewable Energy Directive (EU RED), sets of C&I from bioenergy certification schemes are tested. Do they provide a representative and balanced overview of the environmental impacts of solid biomass production? The current set­up of many certification schemes is mostly based on feasible but less on reliable indicators, typically focusing on land management indicators and less on more reliable biophysical parameters. Certification schemes often lack a methodology or thresholds of sustainable biomass use, which might be a future improvement option.

Keywords:

certification, solid biofuel, environmental impact, ecosystem service cascade, criteria and indicators (C&I), EU Renewable Energy Directive (EU RED)

Topic:

Biomass Policies, Markets and Sustainability

Subtopic:

Sustainability assessment and criteria

Event:

21st European Biomass Conference and Exhibition

Session:

5EP.1.3

Pages:

1708 - 1716

ISBN:

978-88-89407-53-0

Paper DOI:

10.5071/21stEUBCE2013-5EP.1.3

Price:

FREE