Bioplat celebrates the publication of the Network III text on biomass

The Spanish Biomass Platform -BIOPLAT- a public-private collaboration forum established in 2007 and made up of more than 240 entities (companies, public research organizations, universities and R&D+i centers) from the Spanish bioeconomy sector, welcomes the final text agreed upon for the new Renewable Directive (RED III, update of the current RED II) with regard to the field of biomass sustainability.

The text, agreed by the Swedish Presidency of the EurUnion and the EurParliament late on the night of Wednesday, March 29, was made public on Thursday, March 30, after more than a year of uncertainty and several months of intensanegotiations in the final phase (trilogues) of the Directive.

Sustainability of biomass, from RED II to RED III
The current European Directive Eur RED II) approved at the end of 2018, whose transposition was carried out in Spain less than a year ago through Royal Decree 376/2022, of May 17, which regulates the sustainability criteria and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from biofuels, bioliquids and biomass fuels; already establishes very demanding sustainability requirements for biomass for energy generation , similar to those already required since the first Renewable Energy Directive (RED I, published in 2009) for biofuels.

However, the publication of the eur Fit for 55 package in July 2021, whose ambition is to achieve a GHG emissions reduction target of at least 55% (compared to 1990) that the EU has set for 2030, established that -consequently- it was necessary to increase the ambition of the related European Eur , including the Renewables Directive, despite their short regulatory trajectory.

In the process of updating the Directive, the biomass business model in Northern European countries eur where large coal-fired power plants of hundreds and thousands of MW were converted to biomass plants following political restrictions on coal use, significantly influenced the position of the Eur . The Parliament opted to drastically limit the consumption of forest biomass in Network III by establishing a definition of 'primary woody biomass' that practically encompassed all forest biomass except that generated by forestry industries (a type of biomass that is generally consumed internally by these industries and does not reach the market). The aim was to prevent this so-called 'primary woody biomass' from being used for energy production, remunerated, or benefiting from support measures.

For Spain, the establishment of this definition in RED III would have had a very negative impact , not only on the biomass sector, but also on forests and the forestry sector, with very risky consequences for forest fires. This situation was analyzed in the Scientific Manifesto promoted by BIOPLAT and signed by more than one hundred Spanish scientists and academics, which was sent to the Third Vice-President of the Government and Minister for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, Teresa Ribera, at the end of 2022.

Agreement reached: final text of the new Renewable Energy Directive (RED III).
While the bioenergy business model in Spain differs substantially from that of Northern Eur , given that in Spain the biomass supply chain is widely dispersed, local, and based on proximity, with guaranteed sustainability thanks to extensive and well-established forestry regulations, all Member States must transpose the provisions of the Directive into their national legal systems, regardless of the level of development of their biomass sector and market . Therefore, the provisions established therein are extremely important.

The final agreed text further strengthens sustainability criteria and extends them to more power plants (all those with a capacity exceeding 7.5 MWt) . It limits remuneration for electricity generation from forest biomass except in exceptional cases (such as in just transition zones, with associated carbon capture and storage technologies, or in outermost regions like islands) and regulates aspects such as the cascading use of biomass. However, it has not included a definition of 'primary forest biomass,' which, in the case of Spain, would have caused tremendous problems by limiting the extraction of biomass from forests for energy use. The accumulation of forest biomass poses a serious risk, as the lack of forest management, mobilization, and extraction of this biomass would exacerbate forest fires by hindering access to the forests and preventing fire suppression.

After more than a year of enormous uncertainty, the sector, while regretting that new limitations have been established that must be applied retroactively , such as increasing the GHG emission savings in power plants to 80% compared to the fossil fuel alternative, both for new and existing plants, is grateful that this uncertain and worrying period has come to an end , and that the definition of 'primary woody biomass' which would have been so detrimental to the forests and the value chain of the forestry sector, has not been adopted in the end.

Government of Spain and Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge:
In the final phase of the Directive negotiations (known as the trilogue, due to the involvement of the European Commission, Parliament, and Council Eur , Spain's position within the European Council Eur been against establishing this definition, given the potential negative impact on the mobilization of accumulated biomass in forests and, consequently, on forest fires, which are becoming larger and more virulent each year. This is especially true given that Spain has sufficiently robust forestry legislation. This position is perfectly aligned with the other Mediterranean countries, whose sectors are much more similar to Spain's than to those of Northern European countries eur and who also share the devastating problem of forest fires that ravage their forests every summer.

BIOPLAT acknowledges and thanks the Minister and the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, specifically the State Secretariat for Energy led by Sara Aagesen, with its Directorate General for Energy Policy and Mines and its Sub-Directorate for Renewable Energies, and the State Secretariat for the Environment led by Hugo Morán, with its Directorate General for Biodiversity, Forests and Desertification and its Sub-Directorate General for Forest Policy and Combating Desertification, as well as the General Secretariat for the Demographic Challenge led by Francesc Boya, for listening to all stakeholders in the sector - from companies, foresters and environmentalists to scientists and academics - and for their role in the negotiations, with indisputable rigor, and with the sustainability and conservation of forests as a priority .

The sector, once the uncertainties have been cleared up and with the rules clear after the agreement reached on the final text of RED III, will continue to demonstrate that it is possible to combine sustainability and the conservation of our natural capital with sustainable forest management, the fight against forest fires, the energy transition and the bioeconomy.