Bionenergy.
Making Europe‘s energy transition possible.

Burning fossil fuels for energy is warming the planet. Coal, oil, and gas are responsible for 98.6% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (source: Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Energy Data Explorer – Data Tools – IEA). That is why transitioning to renewable energies is the most important step in our strategy to alleviate the climate crisis.

Many people associate renewable energy with solar panels, wind turbines and hydroelectric dams, yet none of these are the world’s largest source of renewable energy. More than half of Europe’s renewable energy comes from bioenergy, sourced from sustainably managed forests and agriculture.

Phasing out fossil fuels requires many changes and presents major challenges.
Even when the sun is not shining, and the wind is not blowing, there is still a demand for energy. To successfully transition away from fossil fuels, renewable energy also needs to be efficiently stored and easily activated.

Energy from biomass is reliable and always available on demand.

This is why bioenergy is the leading source of renewable energy in the world, and is already playing a decisive role in combating climate change.

01
Sustainability
02
Defossilisation
03
Complements other renewables
04
Decarbonisation of Industry
05
Energy Security
06
Job Creation
07
Cost of Energy

01 Sustainability

  • Everyone is talking about sustainability.

    But who invented it?

The concept of sustainability is older than many people think. It was invented over 300 years ago in the forestry sector during a time in which Europe experienced intense deforestation. In 1713, Hans Carl von Carlowitz formulated the principles of sustainable forestry, in which only as many trees were to be removed as could grow back through planting and planned reforestation.

Keep on growing.

European forests keep on growing: In the last 30 years, the area of forests in the European Union has increased by more than 14 million hectares (FAO, Bioenergy Europeʼs Biomass Supply statistical report). This is an area nearly twice the size of the Czech Republic. Today, more than 40% of Europe is forested, thanks in part to sustainable forest management.

Climate change and the threat of increasing extreme weather events such as wildfires, drought and storms, as well as increasing pest infestations, are putting forests under pressure.

Sustainable forest management ensures rapid reforestation of forest stands damaged by natural disasters and pest infestations, and, over the long term, is the way forward to preserve biodiversity and better cope with climate change.

When using wood for building furniture or houses, the carbon bound in the wood remains stored for years. At the same time, new trees grow back. Wood residues from harvesting and processing valuable timber are used, among other things, to generate energy to replace fossil fuels.

What is cascading use?

European forests are sustainably managed to produce high-quality wood for the construction and furniture industries, but also to protect the environment and avoid degradation, deforestation, and in certain climates, desertification.

The low-value parts of the tree, which are unsuitable for long-lasting products in the construction and furniture industries, are utilised to generate renewable energy:

  • Residues from thinning operations
  • Parts of the tree that are not suitable for use as valuable
  • Sawmill residue that occurs during the processing of the damaged wood resulting from natural dead wood or biomass cleared to prevent wildfires and spread of diseases

02 Defossilisation

  • Good energy grows back.

Fossil fuels are responsible for 98.6% of global greenhouse gas emissions. They release carbon into the atmosphere which has been trapped within the earthʼs crust for millions of years. This additional carbon exacerbates the greenhouse effect that is accelerating climate change and causing average temperatures to increase around the globe.

Biomass on the other hand is part of the natural carbon cycle. Plants remove carbon from the atmosphere, sequester it in biomass, and then release it when they die and decay. Bioenergy is carbon neutral because it taps into this natural cycle.

By replacing products and energy from fossil resources with sustainably produced biomass, it is possible to avoid additional climatedamaging fossil carbon.

Biomass is a highly versatile energy source which can be used to generate electricity, heat, and fuel transport.

Biomass is particularly effectively in industry where there are limited sustainable alternatives capable of generating high temperatures. Some industrial processes even require a source of carbon which can be sustainably provided by biomass.

Applications of biomass are not limited to industrial use; it can also play a key role in space heating. Replacing climate-damaging coal, oil and fossil gas heating systems with highly efficient wood heating systems is an important step towards combating the climate crisis.

In 2021, 12.250.000.000 m3 of fossil gas was saved thanks to the use of wood pellets. (Message House, p.1, Source?)

Bioenergy with CCS (BECCS). Only less is less.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recommends energy from sustainable forestry as an effective means of combating climate change. However, it also says that we will no longer achieve our climate targets without negative emissions. (IPCC-AR6-Long-Report (2023, PDF, 5 MB))

Combining CCS with sustainable bioenergy we can generate negative emissions. BECCS, bioenergy with carbon capture and storage, will be a key technology for achieving our climate targets.

Currently 2Mt of biogenic carbon are captured per year worldwide.
BECCS has the potential to do 20 times more – reaching up to 40Mt per year by 2030.
(Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage Q Analysis P IEA, 2019)

03 Complements other renewables

  • Bioenergy is making Europe’s energy supply stable and secure.

Plants are an efficient way of storing solar energy. Whether in solid, liquid or gaseous form, biomass can act as a battery to store the sunʼs energy so that, if needed, it can be used at any time. As a result, bioenergy is a very efficient and cost-effective form of energy in many areas. Biomass is also a very stable form of energy storage with minimal losses over longer time periods making it an ideal way to store energy that is superior to many other methods of energy storage.

The reliability this storage grants can be very important for industry. Industry requires large amounts of energy – often around the clock – irrespective of weather and the availability of weather-dependent energy sources. Bioenergy can provide the necessary energy security while still ensuring renewability.

Heating with biomass saves electricity.

Biomass is particularly valuable in heat generation. Bioheat efficiently provides heating without further increasing the burden on the electricity grid.

Modern biomass appliances are a cost-effective option for renewable heating. Biomass central heating systems such as log boilers or pellet heating systems are very efficient and convenient alternatives to gas or oil heating systems.

Biomass can also be used on a bigger scale for large buildings or district heating networks. These systems also have the option of using different feedstocks than residential systems and can use materials such as wood chips or agricultural residues.

It is also possible to design larger systems for cogeneration which produces both heat and electricity. Combined heat and power (CHP) plants are highly efficient systems for the simultaneous generation of electricity and heat. They enable a primary energy efficiency of over 80%. (https://archive.ipcc.ch)

In comparison: the average efficiency of coal-fired power plants is currently around 31%. (https://www.irena.org/)

With biomass fuelled CHP plants, electricity production is not dependent upon weather conditions and can be used rain or shine, day or night. Furthermore, biomass can even be used in the most remote areas to provide a local solution to heating needs. In this way biomass can help to decentralise the energy system and reduce investment costs by allowing local resources to be used for the benefit of the community.

Share of energy production from renewables

04 Decarbonisation of industry

  • Providing solutions for

    hard-to-abate-industries.

Industrial decarbonisation poses several challenges. Some industries require medium (100-400°C) or higher (over 400°C) temperature processes which are challenging to supply in a cost-effective way with non-fossil sources. Another challenge is that some industrial processes require a carbon source as an input in order to function. With sustainable biomass, the use of fossil fuels in heavy industries, such as steel and cement, can be reduced.

Biomass can be effectively used to produce high quality industrial heat as well as being used in industrial production processes which require a carbon source. Renewable biomass can replace fossil sources as an input material for the production processes.

Sustainable biomass can potentially substitute conventional fossil fuels in the cement industry, which alone is responsible for 4% of global carbon emissions.

(JRC Publications Repository – Decarbonisation options for the cement industry (europa.eu, 2023). In the steel industry, biomass in the form of biochar can substitute coke as a reducing agent.

In the pulp and paper industry 60.5% of the primary energy consumption in 2021 came from biomass.
(Cepi – Key Statistics 2021, p.26)

Bioenergy keeps European industries competitive.

Bioenergy is not only reducing carbon emissions, it also provides efficient and cost-effective energy for industrial sectors where alternatives to fulfil heat demand are limited.

Bioenergy keeps Europeʼs energy-intensive industries competitive and is an important pillar in Europeʼs renewable energy supply.

Share of emissions from EU industries registered under the ETS scheme, 2022

Share of emissions from EU industries registered ets scheme

Going carbon negative. What is BECCS?

With CCS (Carbon Capture and Storage), rather than being released into the air, carbon from flue gases can be captured, liquefied, and pumped into underground reservoirs where it will remain trapped for millennia. CCS does not only work with fossil fuels but can also be combined with bioenergy production, known as bioenergy with carbon capture and storage or BECCS. BECCS has the advantage of being able to go beyond reaching zero emissions.

Bioenergy is carbon neutral because biomass is part of a natural cycle that releases carbon either when it naturally decays or when it is used for bioenergy. More carbon is absorbed by the new plants, which results in negative emissions overall. This type of carbon removal plays an important role in offsetting the emissions in sectors where residual emissions are unavoidable such as aviation and steelmaking.

What is biochar?
Biochar is a stable form of carbon resulting from a thermochemical transformation of biomass which releases energy. Biochar cannot be attacked by microorganisms and can be used in water filtration and water management, as a soil additive to increase aeration and fertility, and even as an oganic alternative to fossil fuels in many industrial process.

What is BECCU – Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Utilisation?
Once captured, the biogenic carbon can be reused to substitute fossil carbon. The biogenic carbon can work as a base component for the production of chemicals, plastics, fuels, building materials.

05 Energy security

  • Always there.

    Always on.

Sustainable bioenergy is stored solar power. And it is available to us whenever needed:
24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Using biomass as fuel provides a sustainable source of heating, complementing electricity demand and alleviating the pressure on the power grid.

This is particularly important during the winter when falling temperatures increase heating demand.

Relying on electricity for heat production has two large drawbacks. First, many weather-dependent electricity generation technologies produce less energy during winter when heating demand is highest. Second, this increased seasonal demand would require a massive expansion of the electricity grid which would be challenging and expensive to do quickly without compromising reliability.

Especially highly efficient CHP installations can provide an answer to these problems, because they can produce electricity in addition to heat.

Bioenergy grows on our doorstep.

Bioenergy is Europeʼs most important source of renewable energy. Not only is it Europeʼs largest source of renewable energy, producing more renewable energy than wind, solar and hydropower combined; but it also stabilises and secures the energy grid and increases Europeʼs energy autonomy, thereby decreasing dependence on imported fossil energy.

95.7% of the biomass used for bioenergy is sourced within the EU, with the rest coming from reliable partners from third countries, like in the U.S. and Canada. (Bioenergy Europeʼs Statistical Report Bioenergy Landscape, 2022, p.18)

High-tech „Made in the EU“

In the bioenergy sector, not only is the biomass home-grown, the technology development and manufacturing are also done within the EU. Unlike many other technologies which rely on foreign manufacturing or production of fuel, bioenergy contributes to Europeʼs energy self-sufficiency. Almost 75% of the suppliers of bioenergy equipment come from the EU and in many sectors European companies are recognised as technology leaders.

The Vilnius CHP

The new Vilnius combined heat and power plant (CHP) will run up to 90% on biomass fuels/bioenergy (up to 20% organic waste and 80% solid biomass). By generating and using heat and power simultaneously, the plant achieves greater efficiency and can save up to 40% of primary energy sources. (https://vkj.lt/en)

With an electrical capacity of about 100 MW and thermal capacity of about 245 MW, the Vilnius plant will be able to produce about 50% of the cityʼs heat demand and enough electricity to supply 320 000 households.

The switch to bioenergy provides a climate-neutral energy source and replaces thousands of individual fossil-fuel-powered heating systems. This is a big step towards a sustainable energy system that can achieve Europeʼs net-zero climate goals in Vilnius.

This change is not just good for the planet, but also for consumers. With the new Vilnius CHP, the heating costs for residents in the capital will decrease by up to 20% (https://vkj.lt/en)

Dependency of fuels in EU27

Gross available energy represents the quantity of energy necessary to satisfy the energy needs of a country or a region. The ratio between net imports and gross available energy indicates the ability of a country or a region to meet all its energy needs. This ratio is called energy dependency. In other words, it shows the extent to which a country or a region is dependent on energy imports (Energy statistics – an overview P Statistics Explained (europa.eu))

Dependency of fuels in EU27

European dependency in 2021

European dependency of fuels in 2021

06 Job creation

  • Jobs exactly where we need them.

Bioenergy creates jobs exactly where we need them most: in rural areas.

Attractive jobs create livelihoods in rural areas and enable people to remain in their local communities.

In the EU, there are over 50,000 bioenergy-related businesses which employ almost one million people.
By 2050, the number of people employed in the bioenergy sector will increase by over 50% rising up to 1.6 million. (Deloitte, 2022)

An Austrian study in the municipality of Hartberg found that bioenergy created almost 9 times more jobs in the region than the fossil fuel value chain. (Watch on YouTube: “Heating with wood adds value to the region”)

07 Costs of Energy

  • Bioenergy.

    A competitive advantage
    for Europe’s industries.

Energy costs are an important factor for the competitiveness of European companies.

In the wake of the start of the war in Ukraine, the costs of fossil fuels rose dramatically, leading to turbulence in European economies.

This experience highlighted that Europe is heavily dependent on energy imports. The decisive expansion of renewables is essential for increasing energy autonomy and stabilising prices. Renewables often have prices below those of fossil fuels and investing in renewables now helps Europeans benefit from affordable energy prices.  Bioenergy costs nearly a third of the price of fossil gas and only half as expensive as oil. (https://www.propellets.at/en/wood-pellet-prices)

Consequently, sustainable bioenergy reduces energy costs and increases the competitiveness of European companies.
Bioenergy demonstrates its strengths particularly when it comes to generating heat for industry or for space heating.

sustainable bioenergy energy costs compared

The “It’s possible” campaign is powered by Bioenergy Europe.

Bioenergy Europe is the voice of European bioenergy, a non-profit, Brussels-based international organisation bringing together associations and companies, as well as academia and research institutes from across Europe.

Contact us
Place du Champ de Mars 2, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
info@bioenergyeurope.org
+32 2 318 41 00

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