Woody biomass is becoming a major part of the renewable energy portfolio, with PEFC (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification) leading the discussion on necessary adaptations to strengthen the link between sustainable biomass and forest certification. Source: Timberbiz
“We already know a lot about how to manage our forests sustainably,” said Uwe Fritsche, of the International Institute for Sustainability Analysis and Strategy (IINAS), during an opening keynote address at the PEFC stakeholder day entitled Strengthening the Link: Sustainable Biomass & Forest Certification.
“But the rise of forest derived bioenergy brings about new issues and challenges not yet considered in existing voluntary forest initiatives.”
The keynote address hinted at the inherent complexities and tough choices facing society as we transition towards a green economy.
Forests provide a great renewable resource that can offer substitution for fossil fuels. But added demand on forest resources presents opportunities and challenges.
Wise substitutions of our energy sources must deliver real and significant greenhouse gas emissions savings, requiring careful calculation across different time and spatial scales.
The event provided a timely opportunity for participants to hear from European Commission (EC) and the UK Government Department of Energy and Climate Change representatives on their renewable energy policies, targets and proposed criteria for sustainable solid biomass.
These new and proposed regulations simultaneously stimulate demand for renewable energy sources (especially woody biomass) while potentially imposing new sets of requirements and safeguards on the land managers and upstream market actors.
It is within this dynamic context of emerging regulations and sustainability requirements that forest sector and energy sector representatives were able to identify much common ground.
“The draft sustainability criteria for solid biomass that we’ve seen from the EC seem to imply that you can pick and choose particular criteria as though sustainable forest management standards are a shopping list,” said Ben Gunneberg secretary general of the PEFC.
We need to better equip forest certification systems to deliver on the different needs and requirements of the energy sector.
Clearly if the utilization of forest biomass for climate friendly energy sources follows predicted trajectories, the unprecedented pressure on forest resources will require a multi-faceted, adaptive, collaborative approach to ensure net positive outcomes globally.
