Title:
Monitoring the Impact of Sustainability Certification in Relation to Biomass Use for Energy
Author(s):
Pelkmans, L., Goovaerts, L., Stupak, I., Smith, C.T., Junginger, M., Goh, C.S., Kranzl, L., Dahlman, L., Cowie, A., Bird, N., Chum, H., Goss Eng, A., Englund, O.
Document(s):
Paper
Abstract:
Since the public has expressed concern about unintended consequences associated with potentially unsustainable biomass production and use for energy (or biofuels), producers of biomass feedstocks in the private sector as well as governmental and non-governmental organisations have initiated many generally unlinked efforts to define 'sustainable' bioenergy production and supply chains. These 'sustainability' standards may be implemented through certification systems involving 3rd party audit, and influence production systems and trade of bioenergy products from producers to consumers of ‘green' energy. At present numerous biomass and biofuel sustainability certification systems are being developed or implemented by a variety of private and public organisations. Systems are applicable to different feedstock production sectors (forests, agricultural crops), different bioenergy products (relatively unprocessed forest residues, ethanol, biodiesel, electricity), and whole or segments of supply chains (production system, chain of custody from growers to energy consumers). It is expected that such a wide range of systems, developed largely without coordination among the organisations involved, could be problematic for all stakeholders along the supply chain in individual sectors and for those involved in deployment of bioenergy systems globally. These are individual feedstock producers, companies and commodity sectors that must comply with these systems either to maintain market access and share or to comply with legislative mandates, and also consumers who prefer to purchase certified green energy, and regulatory agencies and local to national governments that may be involved in enforcing sustainability standards. The potential for confusion among the actors, depression of markets, and unnecessary restrictions on sustainable trade seems high. Within IEA Bioenergy a strategic study was initiated between Task 40, Task 43 and Task 38 to monitor the actual implementation process of sustainability certification of bioenergy, evaluate how stakeholders are affected by certification initiatives, quantify the anticipated impact on worldwide bioenergy trade, assess the level of coordination among schemes, and make recommendations to remove barriers which may depress markets and reduce sustainable trade. Interaction with different stakeholder groups is one of the main objectives of this study, so we anticipate the recommendations being representative of the whole bioenergy certification sector and therefore having high potential to improve an otherwise uncoordinated interest in ensuring bioenergy trade is sustainable.
Keywords:
certification, sustainability, bioenergy markets
Topic:
Biomass Policies, Markets and Sustainability
Subtopic:
Sustainability assessment and criteria
Event:
20th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition
Session:
5BO.6.4
Pages:
2013 - 2018
ISBN:
978-88-89407-54-7
Paper DOI:
10.5071/20thEUBCE2012-5BO.6.4
Price:
FREE
