Biomass Futures Project: Support for EU Bioenergy Policies
The lack of clear "real-time" answers to critical questions about the merits of bioenergy and the sustainable role it can play in future energy systems poses a significant risk for development of policy frameworks and binding targets. ESM contributed as a partner to the Biomass Futures project, funded through Intelligent Energy Europe and coordinated by Imperial College London, that aimed at the provision of validated, up-to-date, quantitative information for the supply and demand dynamics of biomass for bioenergy use. The project, which ended in 2012, also assessed the role that biomass can play in meeting EU energy policy targets.
Particularly noteworthy about Biomass Futures was the intensive involvement of stakeholders representing the supply and demand side as well as the policy domain. ESM contributed with an integrated assessment of sustainable biomass supply using the GLOBIOM model that was applied for the first time at national level for EU27 countries. In two publications, specific scenarios and their impacts on the global environment (GHG emissions and deforestation) and the effectiveness of sustainability criteria for biomass production for bioenergy were investigated.
Main collaborators
