BE-Sustainable Magazine Issue 2

Be sustainable

The magazine of bioenergy and the bioeconomy

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WOOD-BASED BIOFUELS Biogas & Biomass Barometers | Sustainable Forestry in Canada | Gasification Handbook | BioenNW | Sustainability at Work

Sustainable Pathways for Algal Bioenergy

www.enalgae.eu | info@enalgae.eu

editorial

New bio-based solutions or new fossil-based emissions?

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ast month Greenpeace International released a report called “Point of No Return”. The report is based on a research carried out by Ecofys, an acknowledged international consultancy in the environmental and energy fields. According to this report, the fossil fuel industry is planning 14 new massive projects to exploit coal and unconventional energy sources such as tar sands and shale gas. If these projects will be all implemented, their emissions would add-up a total of 300 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalents into the atmosphere by 2050 and would equal those of the entire US by as early as 2020. These projects only would consume up to one third of the additional “carbon budget” we can afford to emit if we want to keep global warming below a +2°C scenario, while in order to meet this target by 2050, the world needs to embark immediately upon a rapid emission reductions pathway.

Sustainable bioenergy is already playing a leading role in the range of measures that must be taken in this global effort and can provide immediate results in all the energy sectors, as well as innovative solutions for a low-carbon economy. This is not only acknowledged by most international institutions, but also evidenced today by the results of the first round of large-scale clean energy projects recently awarded under the NER300 program of the European Commission, funded by the sale of emission allowances generated from the EU Emission Trading System.

Eight out of twenty-three of the winning projects, worth half of the 1.2 billion EUR budget allocated, will be based on the use of biomass to produce energy and biofuels through innovative conversion pathways, such as the UPM’s biorefinery project to produce wood-based biodiesel that we cover in this issue.

Industrial and technology development is as important as ensuring a sustainable production and mobilization of biomass. The scientific and political debate is still hot on this topic. After the EC’s proposal for the revision of the 2020 biofuels targets published in 2012, other important policy updates are expected in 2013 on the sustainability criteria for solid biomass and measures to prevent indirect land-use change.

In the meantime, the increasing commitment towards the large scale production of sustainable biofuels was recently confirmed by the launch of the Leaders of Sustainable Biofuels, an industrial initiative signed by the Chief Executive Officers of seven leading European biofuels producers and airlines, with the aim of accelerating the market penetration, technology deployment and use of advanced biofuels in Europe.

Maurizio Cocchi Do we want to go for new bio-based Editor-in-Chief solutions or new fossil-based emissions? editorial@besustainablemagazine.com

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“I see infinite ways of powering the world” The way to see the future could be through the sun, or the treasures concealed by Planet Earth. That's how S E N E R se es t h i n gs. Ou r p owe r a n d p ro cess u n i t conceives infinite ways of powering the world, always moving in the right direction towards energy efficiency and sustainable development. Our signature is on

solar, gas, combined cycle and cogeneration, nuclear, biofueling, oil refining, chemical, petrochemical, plastics... to provide innovative solutions for energy transformation processes, from generation to storage and distribution.

Power and Process

The way to see the future ALGERIA • ARGENTINA • BRAZIL • JAPAN • MEXICO • POLAND • PORTUGAL • SOUTH KOREA • SPAIN • UNITED ARAB EMIRATES • UNITED STATES

summary

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BE Sustainable ETA-Florence Renewable Energies via Giacomini, 28 50132 Florence - Italy www.besustainablemagazine.com Issue 2 - March 2013

Editorial notes · M. Cocchi |

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News | Bioenergy and bioeconomy news around the world

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Markets · M. Cocchi | Biomass and biogas barometers

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Resources · E. Thiffault | Mobilizing sustainable forest bioenergy in Canada

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Industry · M. Cocchi | Bioenergy a key player in award winning NER300 projects

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Industry · S. Mannonen | Wood-based biofuels from Finland

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Industry | Industries teaming up to launch sustainable biofuels

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Projects · L. Russell | Delivering local bioenergy schemes throughout North West Europe

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Technology · H.A.M. Knoef | Biomass gasification

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Sustainability · J. Henke | Sustainability at work

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BE Sustainable is published by ETA-Florence Renewable Energies, Via Giacomini 28, 50132 Florence, Italy Editor-in-Chief: Maurizio Cocchi | editorial@besustainablemagazine.com | twitter: @maurizio_cocchi Managing editor: Angela Grassi | angela@besustainablemagazine.com Authors: Maurizio Cocchi, Jan Henke, H.A.M. Knoef, Sari Mannonen, Louise Russell, Evelyne Thiffault Marketing & Sales: marketing@besustainablemagazine.com Graphic design: Tommaso Guicciardini Corsi Salviati Layout: Valentina Davitti, ETA-Florence Renewable Energies Print: Mani srl | Via di Castelpulci 14/c | 50018 Scandicci, Florence, Italy Website: www.besustainablemagazine.com Cover images by © iStockphoto/Igor Vesninov and © Istockphoto.com/Anna Kuzilina Image on page 15 by © Istockphoto.com/Anna Kuzilina

Bioenergy and bioeconomy news around news

First biomethane grid injection project opened in UK

U.S. surpass Canada in wood pellet exports According to Wood Resources International in the first half of 2012 U.S. exported 1.5 million tons of pellets to Europe, becoming the worlds’ largest exporter.

The growth is expected to continue and the volumes are expected to reach 5.7 million by 2015.

The facility will use approximately 41.000 tonnes of food waste, maize and grass silage each year, which will be sourced from local farms and businesses.

Scotland launches biofuel program Led by the Biofuel Research Centre at Edinburgh Napier University, the Scottish Biofuel Programme is a partnership between five Scottish Universities and research institutions which will work to help small and medium sized businesses develop low carbon technologies, products and services. SMEs can apply to the programme’s Business Innovation Fund.

At maximum capacity, it is expected that the plant will provide enough gas for 56.000 new-build homes in the summer and 4.000 in the winter, producing a net carbon saving of around 4.435 tonnes of CO2 equivalent emissions a year.

21 November 2012 http://tinyurl.com/atolwpu http://tinyurl.com/aun93o8

16 November 2012

7 December 2012

http://tinyurl.com/b25uhbv

http://tinyurl.com/azwlyg9

Production of bioplastics to increase fivefold in by 2016 According to a report by the European Bioplastics Association the industry’s capacity is expected to reach 5.8 million tons by 2016 from 1.2 million in 2011.

The most significant growth is expected to be in the production of non-biodegradable bioplastics, especially biobased polyethylene (PE) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET).

10 October 2012 http://tinyurl.com/9oge589

Enviva breaks ground of new 500.000 tons/y biomass plant

E.ON France to convert a 150 MW coal plant to biomass in Provence

The new production facility will be located in Southampton County, VA and is scheduled to be operational late 2013. The $90 million facility is the third wholly-owned plant developed by Enviva in the MidAtlantic region.

The new unit will provide the equivalent of the electricity consumption of 440.000 households (excluding heating) and will avoid the release of 600.000 tonnes of CO2 per year. The 150 MW plant will require about 850.000 tonnes of biomass per year. Conversion works are expected to start by the first trimester of 2013.

30 November 2012 http://tinyurl.com/afkvwzd

5 December 2012 http://tinyurl.com/b9xv2nv

BP Cancels Plans for US Cellulosic Ethanol Plant A project for a 36 million gallon plant in Florida was cancelled as BP announced it intention to refocus its biofuels strategy on R&D and licensing its technology.

25 October 2012 http://tinyurl.com/b4dt7oj

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Sweet sorghum seen as a strategic crop for bioethanol in Brasil Syngenta and Ceres will work together to support the introduction of sweet sorghum as a source of fermentable sugars at Brazil’s 400 ethanol mills. Last season, more than 3.000 hectares were grown in Brazil. Due to increased demand for ethanol and sugarcane shortages, Brazil’s government recently announced in its annual agricultural plan for 2012-2013 that sweet sorghum would be considered a strategic crop.

26 November 2012 http://tinyurl.com/bgf79zv

the world Drax sells shares to convert UK’s largest power The conversion will cost £700 million, the company aims at raising £180 million through a share placing worth 11% of the company. By converting to biomass, Drax will prolong the lifespan of the existing power station, ensuring the UK maintains baseload energy capacity.

25 October 2012 http://tinyurl.com/bbop9ha

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Beta Renewables, Novozymes form strategic partnership Novozymes, the world’s largest producer of industrial enzymes, and Beta Renewables, a global leader in cellulosic biofuels, have announced an agreement to jointly market, demonstrate and guarantee cellulosic biofuel solutions. Novozymes will acquire a 10% share in Beta Renewables, approximately $115 million. Beta Renewables will embed Novozymes’ enzymes in its proprietary PROESA technology and guarantee biofuel production costs upon start-up of customers’ cellulosic facilities.

29 October 2012 http://tinyurl.com/aq9ob7k

GBEP and IRENA cooperating on the development of a Global Bioenergy Atlas The Global Bioenergy Atlas aims at combining and expanding existing databases on bioenergy potential around the world into a unique web-portal that will provide essential information for decision making and bioenergy investment.

16 November 2012 http://tinyurl.com/begnlg6

Largest biogas plant in Russia start operations The 2.4 MWe plant built by German BDAgro is located in the Belgorod region, and is supplied with 80 tons of maize silage, 80 m3s of slurry and 45 tons of slaughterhouse waste every day. Each year, 19 million kWh of power are generated and 10,000 households can be supplied with this power. . "This marks the birth of the bioenergy sector in Russia", said Vevgeny Savchenko, the governor of Belgorod oblast, when opening the plant.

30 October 2012

Standardising Biofuels in East Africa

http://tinyurl.com/9wjtvf4

An international standard for bioenergy is set to take effect in 2014, and East Africa will follow its guidelines.

The standard, when finalized together with national policy and regulatory framework will facilitate sustainable biofuel production in this region. The Swedish government through its agency SIDA has agreed to support the project which would cost some $3.6 million.

6 November 2012 http://tinyurl.com/arur3km

Praji to build 10 million liters cellulosic ethanol plant in India The plant will demonstrate the technical and commercial viability of the company’s technology, it is an appropriate size for emerging markets and the first of its kind in the tropics said Praj executive chairman Pramod Chaudhari.

8 November 2012 http://tinyurl.com/a2kbjb2

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Biomass and Biogas Barometers Biomass heating decreases while biomass electricity production grows steadily

heating networks.

Finally, in the case of Germany the drop in solid biomass consumption can be attributed to lower heating reLast December the EurObserv’ER consortium has quirements in the residential sector, while the contraction published its annual barometers for solid biomass and biin consumption was much less pronounced in the industrial ogas in the 27 European Member States for 20111. segment. Despite the slowdown in the general consumpAccording to the study, the European Union’s primary tion of biomass, the German market of wood pellets conenergy production from solid biomass contracted by 2.9% tinues to grow.

(78.8 Mtoe between 2010 and 2011) due to an exceptionalA help for the recovery of biomass use for heating in the ly mild winter in 2011, with unusually high temperatures. residential sector came in August 2012 when the governAs a result, the demand for firewood and solid biomass fuel ment increased the subsidies for the installation of renewwas low and heat consumption from solid biomass was esable energy heating systems (Marktanreizprogramm).The timated at 64.9 Mtoe in 2011. subsidy for pellet-fuelled burners was increased by € 400 Gross consumption of solid biomass primary energy, inraising the minimum to € 2,400, while wood burners coucluding imports and exports, was estimated at 80.8 Mtoe pled to a back boiler with a hot-water storage tank are eliin 2011 (a drop of 3.9%). Increasing trade flows of wood gible for a minimum subsidy of € 2,900. pellets imported from Canada and the United States are afAlso in France the reduction in solid biomass energy profecting the EU biomass market. While biomass heat production (from 10.6 Mtoe in 2010 to 9.2 Mtoe in 2011) hapduction decreased, biomass electricity production continpened in the residential sector, while it is still growing in ued to grow (72.8 TWh produced in 2011), driven by the the industrial, collective and service sectors. additional take-up of biomass co-firing.

The renewable energy board SER, estimated 231 MW The main driver for this is the set of policies and support of cumulative installed capacity of biomass cogeneration measures that member states have put in place to meet their plants in 2012. mandatory RES targets for 2020. In addition to this, several The sectors involved are papermaking, sawmills, oilseed aging coal-fired power plants require major refurbishments crop processing, institutions and waste management. or new construction investments and this could encourage The UK is one of the few European countries where the the operators to redirect part of their investments into coconsumption of solid biomass increased, though only in the firing plants or even 100% biomass plants. power generation sector. The DECC (Department of EnerThe countries that experienced most this reduction of gy and Climate Change) the production of electricity from biomass consumption are Sweden, Finland, Germany and biomass increased by nearly 17% (6.1 TWh) between 2010 France. In 2011 in Sweden solid biomass production was and 2011. Policies in form of obligations and subsidies are slashed by more than 1.7 Mtoe to 8.2 Mtoe. Wood waste still the main driver for biomass use in power generation and and black liquor (a papermaking industry by-product) in the case of UK the new bonus system for the 2013-2017 amounted to 83.4% of solid biomass energy production period was decided in 2012. New biomass plants will ben(90.1% in 2010), with logwood making up the remainder. efit from 1.5 ROC (Renewable Obligation Certificates) per According to the Swedish Energy Agency, biomass use in MWh in 2013, declining to 1.4 ROC from 2016 onwards. district heating has increased fivefold since 1990, while Plants using energy crops will be able wood pellet consumption has soared to claim 2 ROCs per MWh. Co-firing making the country the leading conSolid Biomass Barometer of biomass with coal will also be elisumer of this fuel.

-2,9 % primary energy production gible for ROC, with the exact amount In Finland, the drop in consumption from solid biomass between 2010 varying according to the percentage of solid biomass was about 3% in 2011 and 2011 of biomass used and the presence or due to less black liquor used in the Biogas Barometer not of cogeneration. However sevpapermaking industry because of the +18,2 % biogas electricity eral large plant conversion or new slowdown in business and secondly, production growth in 2011 biomass projects remain stuck in the lower heating requirements in district 6 Be

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All barometers are freely downloadable at: www.eurobserv-er.org

markets

pipeline because of the uncertainties surrounding the new electricity purchasing system (FiT-CfD, Feed-in-Tariffs

with Contract for Difference) which will replace the ROCs system after 2017.

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Biogas heat sales increased by 16% In 2011 the production of energy from biogas for electricity as well as heat applications increased in the European Union. Most of the increase in primary energy output was related to the production of electricity that grew by 18.2% between 2010 and 2011 (35.9 TWh produced in 2011), while over the same period, biogas heat sales to factories or heating networks increased by 16%. Most of the heat produced is used directly on site for drying sludge, heating buildings and maintaining the digester at optimum temperature. Across the European Union purpose-designed biogas plants clearly dominate the field with a share of 56.7% in 2011. Biogas recovery from landfills accounts for 31.3% and biogas from wastewater treatment plants for 12%. Landfill biogas is still dominant in the UK, France, Italy and Spain, whereas biogas from animal wastes and agriculture dominates the German, Dutch, Czech, Austrian, Belgian, Danish, and many of the Eastern Europe’s markets. Besides electricity and heat recovery, the production of biomethane for grid injection is taking-off in several countries. In June 2012 87 biogas upgrading units were operating in Germany with an estimated production capacity of 55,930 nm3/h. The report points out that a further 39 plants are under construction (which would raise the output potential to 81 620 nm3/h) and another 63 are being planned.

Besides Germany other countries are increasingly developing biomethane projects; Sweden has 47 plants, Switzerland 17 plants and the Netherlands 13 plants.

Germany is still the leading country for biogas, 1310 new plants were commissioned in 2011, elevating the total capacity to 2.904 MW (7,215 plants) and generating 19.4 TWh of electricity, 3% of the country’s consumption. At present the sector is worth 7 billion € of sales and 52,900 jobs.

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In 2012 the feed-in tariffs for electricity were reduced by 1 to 2 euro cents per kWh and a cap to the use of maize silage was introduced (60% of the input mass). As a consequence of this a slowdown in new installations is expected, however the German biogas association forecasts that this will be partly offset by repowering of already existing plants and by the German manufacturers’ export efforts wich could soon cover 30% of the business.

In the UK the number of anaerobic digesters rose by about a third to 78 in 2011, not counting those used in the wastewater treatment industry. They represent the equivalent of 75 MW of electricity-generating capacity. The reason for this surge in interest is the implementation of Renewable Heat Incentives (RHI) to promote renewable heat.

An annual 5% stepped reduction of tariffs will apply from April 2014 onwards.

The Italian market should continue to grow but not at the same pace as it has done over the past two years, driven by generous feed-in tariffs. At the same time, Italy is making efforts to increase the recovery of biogas from landfills, indeed in 2011 the production of primary energy from landfills doubled from 349.6 ktoe in 2010 to 755.6 ktoe.

The Italian government has ruled that from 2013 onwards, the feed-in tariff for <1 MW plants using organic products will be halved to € 0.14/kWh. Most of the growth in biogas output comes from the farming sector.

Industry adjusts to the new market situation Many equipment manufacturers are expanding their business to promising markets such as the United Kingdom, Italy, Poland, France and the Czech Republic. Furthermore a general trend in the industry is towards the development of small scale plants (up to 75 kW) as it a strong pick up is expected in this segment. Accordingly new processes and equipment to maximize the methane production from slurry and other waste streams are being developed . The market is starting to develop activities relating to increasing existing capacities (repowering). Lastly, an increasing number of manufacturers are investing in their own anaerobic digestion plants and thus becoming operators to reduce their dependence on the plant construction market.

One of the keys to the sector’s future growth will be improving the energy efficiency of biogas units. Until recently, the sector’s growth was largely driven by incentives linked to electricity production while the use of residual heat was neglected. New emphasis should be put back into the heat recovery potential of biogas production along the lines of the UK’s current achievements with the RHI.

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Mobilizing sustainable forest bioenergy in Canada

Evelyne Thiffault | Natural Resources Canada

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ver the past few years, there has been an important push in the forestry sector around the world towards more diversification and the generation of more value from the forest. Bioenergy is seen as a particularly promising pathway. At the same time, as countries, industry and communities seek ways to reduce greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions to mitigate climate change, forest bioenergy is seen as an appealing alternative to fossil fuels. Therefore, with developing domestic and export markets for forest bioenergy, there is a growing interest in sourcing biomass from traditional as well as non-traditional feedstocks. International bodies such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the International Energy Agency estimate that bioenergy in general, and the type derived from forest biomass in particular, has a high potential for increasing the proportion of renewable energy produced at the global level over the next 50 years.

Currently, there are on-going discussions about the potential contribution of forest bioenergy to meet the global energy demand as well as its ecological sustainability. The stability of bioenergy production and trading still needs to be secured and policy choices by both domestic and international markets can be made on how solid bioenergy supply chains and markets are governed.

The case of Canada With its 397.2 million hectares (ha) of forests and other wooded lands, Canada represents 10% of the world’s forest cover and 30% of the world’s boreal forest. Seventy-seven percent of Canada’s forests are under provincial jurisdiction, 16% are federal, and 7% are privately owned. The country has a well-developed forest sector and has historically been one of the world’s largest exporters of wood products. The 10 provinces and three territories have legislative authority over the enhancement, conservation and management of forest resources. For its part, the federal government has shared authority for environmental and science & technology issues, and full authority for matters related to federal lands, to national economy, trade and international relations, and to First Nations matters. About 150 million ha of Canada’s forests (out of 229 million ha of managed forests) are certified as being sustainably managed by one or more of globally recognized certification standards.

In Canada, mill by-products (black liquor, bark/hog, shavings/sawdust) have historically been the main feedstock for bioenergy production. However, forest biomass from managed forests, in the form of harvest residues (i.e. tops and branches of trees harvested for traditional forest products) and dead wood from naturally disturbed stands (i.e. stands

killed by wildfire or insect epidemics), represents by far the largest potential for further development of bioenergy.

The sheer extent and variability of the Canadian forest landbase and the potential for salvage harvesting of naturally disturbed stands are key features of the Canadian biomass resource that set it apart from other countries. The area of Canada’s forest landbase affected annually by natural disturbances is much greater than that affected by logForest harvesting in boreal forest ging. For example, in 2010, the area affected by insects and wildfire was 12 and 3 million are both highly dynamic. Linking this dynamic portrait of ha, respectively, whereas the harvested area was 0.68 milCanada’s forest biomass availability to models of internalion ha. The procurement costs of harvest residues and saltional biomass trade flows will also be crucial: it will ensure vage harvesting also compare very favourably with those for that expectations about Canada’s contributions to global other forest feedstock types, such as biomass from dedicated bioenergy stay realistic. short-rotation plantations.

Approaches to ecological sustainability Many Western countries, such as those in the European Ecological concerns surrounding forest bioenergy also Union, do not have the biophysical resources needed to meet need to be addressed. Examples in Canada and around the their bioenergy production targets. Europe is an important world show that the success (or lack thereof) of forest bioenmarket for wood pellets, and biomass consumption for heat ergy deployment relies heavily on the social acceptability and power is expected to double from now until 2020. Canof biomass procurement practices, which calls for the apada could have an increasingly crucial role to play in the inplication of careful and science-based policies for ecosystem ternational trade of solid forest biomass. However, this role protection. will only be fully realized if Canada's forest industry first At the international level, one example of policy related builds stable and well-organized biomass supply chains and to ecological sustainability of biomass is the EU Renewable continues to demonstrate strong stewardship of its own forEnergy Directive 2009/28/EC (RED), which mandates that est resources.

20% of the EU’s energy consumption must consist of renew-

Managing uncertainty in biomass supplies

Several issues cause investors to be skeptical about a successful business model for the bioenergy industry in Canada.

Capital investment typically requires reasonable certainty of feedstock supplies over at least a 20-year period. One barrier is the capacity to predict realistic and ecologically sustainable forest biomass supplies over time. The availability of biomass from Canada’s forests is highly dependent on ecological factors that are difficult to assess, such as natural disturbance cycles like insect epidemics and wildfires.

Moreover, Canada does not have a strong internal bioenergy market such as those seen in many European countries. Forest biomass supply chains for bioenergy will therefore likely develop along existing supply chains for traditional wood products. Hence the availability of forest biomass will depend on the vitality of the industrial network for those products. There is therefore a challenge for Canada in assessing its own potential forest biomass resources because it requires an understanding the natural and industrial spheres, which

able sources by 2020, and it includes sustainability criteria for biofuels and bioliquids. Currently the criteria are not binding on solid biomass, but discussions on sustainability requirements are on-going and some form of legally binding criteria is expected to be enforced in the near future. The United Kingdom has already enacted sustainability criteria for solid biomass that use the same framework as the EURED. The EU considers that public intervention is justified because there is a risk of negative environmental impacts with the intensified use of biomass. Biodiversity has been identified by the EU as one key area of environmental risks.

Sustainability criteria for bioenergy feedstocks in the EU stem from a land-use approach with a strong emphasis on precluding land-use change (i.e. conversion of forest to other land uses). Concerns about direct and indirect land-use change have been at the forefront of discussions on bioenergy production in the EU over the past few years. Although these concerns are mostly related to liquid biofuel production (for example, palm oil production in former tropical

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Naturally distrubed stands

peatlands), they have become part of the larger debate on sustainability of all forms of biomass for bioenergy production. For example, anticipated EU standards do not allow the use of bioenergy from solid biomass sourced from primary forests. Primary forests are defined as “forest and other wooded land of native species, where there is no clearly visible indication of human activity and the ecological processes are not significantly disturbed”. Existing or developing national and private governance schemes (e.g. Green Gold Label, Initiative of Wood Pellet Buyers) are using the same primary forest criterion. The rationale for excluding primary forests is conservation of biodiversity through protection of biodiverse lands. This land-use approach is based on the assumption that the greater the amount of ecosystem exposure to human activity, the greater the potential loss of biodiversity; it prevents potential challenges associated with trying to directly describe and measure ecosystem response to human activity.

On the other hand, governance schemes for forest management such as those in Canada are mostly based on strategies that assess and regulate biodiversity conditions by describing and measuring indicators of forest structure and composition at the stand and landscape levels. In Canada, for historical and geographical reasons, the bulk of forest management activities, especially in the boreal zone, occur in forested areas that are often inherited from nature, or have been only lightly influenced by direct human interventions and/or are heavily influenced by natural disturbances, as opposed to most forest areas in Europe. Also, forest management in Canada in previously un-accessed areas typically involves conversion of natural forest to modified natural or semi-natural forest.

Managed stands often retain many of the characteristics of natural forests, such as an abundance of downed woody debris. Emphasis is put on natural regeneration after harvesting and on preserving the species composition of the original stand. About 60% of harvested areas are replanted, but often through enrichment, i.e. to complement existing natural regeneration. Also, the area of harvested land planted with exotic species across Canada accounts for less than 1%, and 12 Be

there is very limited use of exotic species for afforestation.

At the landscape level, a managed area may lose some of the features of a naturally inherited landscape, for example in terms of the proportion of very old stands. However, management standards and regulations usually require that a diverse matrix of stand compositions and ages be maintained, and stands with high biodiversity value be preserved.

Although the intents of protecting biodiversity are similar, the approach to sustainability based on a gradient of forest naturalness and indicators of forest structure and composition may not be easily compared with the land-use approach of the EU standards. That is not to say that one is better than the other for protecting crucial aspects of biodiversity. Nevertheless, a non-alignment between the operational reality of local forest conditions and management on the one side, and overarching policy mechanisms such as the EU-RED on the other side, may create hurdles, unintended non-tariff barriers and possibly conflicts for trade flows of forest biomass.

There is therefore a clear need for communication and outreach between stakeholders of different jurisdictions so that development of policy mechanisms takes into account both higher concerns for sustainability and specific local conditions.

Conclusion

Expectations are high concerning forest bioenergy, both in terms of renewal of the forestry sector and for mitigation of climate change. For promises to be met, the tasks for Canada would be to ensure that Canadian circumstances are well understood and represented in international fora, which requires: • a credible assessment of its own potential and constraints for stable and ecologically sustainable forest biomass supplies, which implies keeping an open dialogue among stakeholders within the country, and • an awareness of, and proactive steps towards, international policy development, which implies keeping an open dialogue with stakeholders in other countries.

For all countries, the task is to continually seek a common understanding of sustainability principles and of local and operational forestry realities and knowledge across the globe. There is no denying that forest bioenergy is under close scrutiny (witness the current debate on carbon debt). At any point in time, this may slow mobilization of forest biomass supply chains and international bioenergy trade, sometimes rightfully so. This therefore calls for open dialogue between policy-makers, scientists and civil society to ensure constant improvement of our knowledge and practices concerning the sustainability of forest bioenergy.

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PYROGROT

BIOENERGY A KEY PLAYER IN AWARD WINNING NER300 PROJECTS In 2009 the European Commission established NER300, one of the world's largest funding programmes for innovative low-carbon energy demonstration projects.

NER300 is so called because it is funded from the sale of 300 million emission allowances from the New Entrants Reserve (NER) set up for the third phase of the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS). The budget will be distributed to winning projects through a set of two calls for proposals.

A wide range of advanced RES technologies are eligible including bioenergy, concentrated solar power, photovoltaics, geothermal, wind, ocean, hydropower and smart grids.

Last December the Commission awarded the winners of the first call, published in 2011, with over EUR 1.2 billion of funding. Collectively they will increase the annual renewable energy production in Europe by some 10 TWh, the equivalent of the annual fuel consumption of more than a million passenger cars. More importantly, the aim is to successfully demonstrate technologies that will help substantially scale-up energy production from renewable sources across the EU. Eight out of twenty-three winning projects will be based on the use of biomass to produce energy and advanced biofuels. This result confirms bioenergy as an essential tool for economic development and transition to a low-carbon economy.

As Climate Action Commissioner Connie Hedegaard said: "the NER300 programme is in effect a 'Robin Hood' mechanism that makes polluters pay for large-scale demonstration of new low-carbon technologies. The EUR 1.2 billion of grants - paid by the polluters - will leverage a further EUR 2 billion of private investment in the 23 selected lowcarbon demonstration projects. This will help the EU keep its frontrunner position on renewables and create jobs here and now, in the EU".

A second call for proposal is now being prepared, covering unused funds from the first call as well as the revenues of the remaining 100 million allowances in the new entrants' reserve.

The eight bioenergy winners All together the eight bioenergy projects will receive a cofunding of 628 million euro and will mobilize more than 4,7 million tons of biomass annually, mostly produced locally and derived from forest and agricultural residues and partially from energy crops. All projects are based on the largescale demonstration of advanced technologies to produce a diversified range of bioenergy carriers: from pyrolysis oil, to bioethanol, biomethanol, bionaphtha and synthesis gas.

Once completed these projects will represent a milestone for the advancement of the bioenergy industry and for the industrial exploitation of decades of research results.

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More at: http://tinyurl.com/22ky2pp

Project sponsor: Billerud Location: Sk채rblacka in central Sweden Date of entry into operation: December 2015 Max funding: 31million EUR A 160.000 tons/y pyrolysis plant producing oil from forest residues as feedstock. Located in a pulp and paper mill operated

by Billerud, the proposed facility will comprise a biomass pretreatment stage, biomass drying, flash pyrolysis process including condenser, and storage of pyrolysis oil. The plant will be able to process 720 ton/day of dry biomass. The project foresees the use of various biomass fractions while maintaining a uniform feed to the pyrolysis plant throughout the year.

AJOS Project sponsor: Vapo and Mets채litto Location: Kemi Ajos Finland Date of entry into operation: December 2016 Max funding: 88 million EUR A biomass-to-liquid (BtL) plant in northern Finland, with a gasification capacity of 320 MW and an annual output of 115.000 t/y of biofuel using close to 950.000 t/y of woody feedstock and 31.000 t/y of tall oil. The industrial process will be composed by a biomass pre-treatment stage, two gasification lines of 160 MW, gas cleaning and compression, gas-to-liquid conversion (Fischer-Tropsch) including refining, processing and storage of products. The project will produce and sell biodiesel and bionaphtha in the Baltic Sea area.

UPM StracelBTL Location: Strasbourg France Date of entry into operation: December 2015 Max funding 170 million EUR Biomass-to-Liquid (BtL) plant integrated in a pulp and paper mill in Strasbourg and owned by UPM Group. The project is based on the application of a novel pressurized oxygen blown biomass gasification technology. The integration in the pulp and paper production line will enable exchanges of energy and products. The plant will use about 1 million tons of woody biomass and will have an annual output of 105.000 tons of biofuel, namely biodiesel (80%) and bionaphtha (20%).

industry

VERBIOSTRAW Location: Schwedt Germany Date of entry into operation: January 2014 Max funding: 22 million EUR An extension of an existing ethanol-biogas plant in Schwedt, Germany, to produce biogas for grid injection. The project will have a design capacity of 25.6 Mm3 of biogas containing 12.8 Mm3(S) of methane and make use of 70.000 t/year of straw.

The process will comprise raw material handling, biomass pretreatment by steam and enzyme successively, production of biogas by anaerobic fermentation and biogas upgrading.

GOBIGAS PHASE 2 Project sponsor: Goteborg energy Location: Goteborg Sweden Date of entry into operation: December 2016 Max funding: 58 million EUR Large-scale conversion of low-quality wood into synthetic natural gas (SNG) by indirect gasification at atmospheric pressure, gas cleaning, methane production (via nickel catalyst), pressurization and injecting the product into the regional gas network. The installed capacity will be 100 MWth and the plant is expected to produce 800 GWh/y of SNG. The feedstock (500.000 tons/y) will derive from forest residues and pulpwood harvested from the surrounding areas of Gothenburg, the Lake Vänern and Baltic region.

BIOGAS

WOODSPIRITS

SYNGAS

Location: Oosterholm, the Netherlands Date of entry into operation: November 2016 Max funding: 199 million

PYROLISYS OIL

BIODIESEL BIONAPHTHA

THE 8 BIOENERGY WINNERS

BIOMETHANOL

BIOETHANOL BIODIESEL BIONAPHTHA

Large-scale production of bio-methanol by using biomass torrefaction and entrained flow gasification as core technologies.

The output of the project is 516 Ml/y or 413.000 t/y bio-methanol.

The project will make use of 1.5 Mt/y of imported wood chips.

Bio-methanol will be used as a petrol additive for partial replacement of mineral fuel. The main components of the new complex include a fuel receiving and processing facility, gasification island to produce raw syngas, the syngas cleaning area and the methanol plant including bio-methanol synthesis and purification plants.

BIOETHANOL

BEST Project sponsor: M&G Group Location: Crescentino Italy Date of entry into operation: June 2013 Max funding: 28 million EUR

CEG PLANT GOSWINICE Location: Goswinowice Poland Date of entry into operation: July 2014 Max funding: 30 million EUR

The Crescentino plant owned by M&G is currently the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s largest ligno-cellulosic biofuels plant and is almost ready to start. At full capacity the plant will use 180.000 tons/y of biomass from straw and giant reed produced locally to produce 40.000 tons of ethanol; lignin as a by-product will be used for power production in a 13 MWe plant.

Large-scale second generation bioethanol from agricultural residues. 250.000 t/year of wheat straw and corn stover will be used to produce 60 Ml/year of ethanol. The project plant will be integrated in a 1st gen existing plant The co-products, lignin (70.000 t) and biogas (22,3MNm3 biogas), will be sold as a fuel to the existing plant which in turn will provide steam for both plants.

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The UPM biorefinery is located in Lappeenranta, Finland, at UPM´s Kaukas integrate of paper, pulp and sawmill site

industry

WOOD-BASED BIOFUELS FROM FINLAND The world´s first biorefinery producing wood-based renewable diesel is under construction in Finland. The biorefinery will use crude tall oil, a residue of pulp production, as a feedstock and is integrated into existing UPM Kaukas pulp and paper mill in South-Eastern Finland. Annual production will be 120 million litres of advanced biodiesel for transport. The key success factor of the novel drop-in fuel is sustainability: feedstock is wood-based, non-food origin with no indirect land use change, and the GHG emission reduction is significant.

Sari Mannonen | UPM Biofuels, Finland

B

iofore is a new industry category UPM has created to describe the future of the forest and paper company. Bio stands for future orientation, sustainable solutions and good environmental performance. Fore stands for forest and the company’s position at the forefront of development. UPM sees sustainability as a way to drive innovation, to spot business opportunities and to develop products and services.

Fibre- and biomass-based businesses, recyclable raw materials and products have been the cornerstones of UPM's ten billion euros global business. Wood as a raw material is used effectively as a basis for many different businesses: logs are used for sawn timber and plywood, fibres to produce pulp, paper and composites, lignin and fibrils to create new products, and bark and branches for energy generation.

UPM has also traditionally utilised the residues of pulp and paper processes - bark, sawn dust, black liquor and deinking sludge from newspaper production - in energy generation in the power plants of the pulp and paper mills.

Developing 2nd generation wood-based biofuels was one of the routes UPM wanted to explore and started to look for suitable residues. Significant amount of crude tall oil containing the extractive components of wood was generated as a residue in chemical pulp production, mainly in the pro-

duction of sulphate cellulose from softwood. That started in-house R&D project and resulted as a new technology for converting crude tall oil into advanced biodiesel. Using crude tall oil to manufacture biofuel is an innovative way to use that residue without changing the main process, pulp and paper production.

The first investment – UPM Lappeenranta Biorefinery

The Lappeenranta Biorefinery investment is the first step for UPM in becoming the leading producer of wood-based advanced biofuels. The industrial scale investment is the first of its kind globally and it is profitable. Building the biorefinery started in June 2012 with earthmoving and piling work at UPM’s Kaukas mill site, and the construction will be completed in 2014. UPM’s total investment will amount to approximately EUR 150 million and is completed without public investment grants. The construction of the biorefinery will offer work for nearly 200 people directly and indirectly. The biorefinery will produce annually approximately 100,000 tonnes of advanced second generation biodiesel for transport equating to 120 million litres of biodiesel.

UPM has been developing this innovative production process in Lappeenranta Biorefinery Center, Finland. The 17 Be

news

of custody and forest certification. The chain of custody model certified to both PEFC and FSC, traces the origin of all of UPM’s wood, pulp and biomass and guarantees as a minimum that all wood fibre comes from legal and non-controversial sources. It also allows UPM to accurately measure the amount of wood coming from certified forests and enables to offer certified products. UPM’s global biodiversity programme aims to maintain and increase biodiversity in forests as well as proThe construction of the biorefinery producing biodiesel mote best practices in sustainable forestry. By from crude tall oil started at UPM Kaukas mill site in June 2012 further processing crude tall oil UPM is able to utilise the wood it uses for its pulp prowhole process from crude tall oil into the final product, duction in a more efficient way without increasing wood pure second generation biodiesel, is performed and conharvesting or land-use. UPM does not use raw materials trolled at the same biorefinery site. The technology is based suitable for food. on hydrogenation. The main steps of the process are preUPM’s consistent work on corporate responsibility has treatment of crude tall oil, hydrotreatment, recycle gas pugained recognition: UPM has been listed as the only forrification, and fractionation. estry and paper company worldwide in the Dow Jones UPM’s advanced biodiesel, UPM BioVerno, is an innoSustainability Indexes for both to the European and World vation which will decrease greenhouse gas emissions of Sustainability Index. The company has been selected both transport up to 80% in comparison to fossil fuels. UPM as a Supersector Leader in Basic Resources sector and ForBioVerno has been tested for its properties, functionality, estry & Paper Sector Leader for 2012-2013. UPM was also and effect on diesel engines in various laboratories such assessed as the best company in environmental dimension as VTT in Finland and in FEV (Forschungsgesellschaft für within Forestry & Paper sector with very high scores. In Energietechnik und Verbrennungsmotoren GmbH) in Geraddition to Dow Jones Sustainability Index, UPM has remany. In addition, numerous vehicle tests with both blended cently been ranked in the Nordic Climate Change Discloand pure biodiesel proved that UPM BioVerno functioned sure Index with top scores – 98 points out of 100. In the as a drop in fuel (direct replacement for fossil diesel) in Nordic Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index high scores all tested engines and vehicles. However, the key success indicate good internal data management and understanding factor is sustainability: The feedstock is wood-based, nonof climate change related issues affecting the company. food origin with no indirect land use change, and the CO2 emission reduction is significant.

Sustainability in focus

UPM is complying with best practices and legislation that is supported by the implementation of certified management systems. The tools used cover the whole lifecycle of the product including the supply chain. It means, for example, knowing the origin of raw materials and regular checks of the environmental performance of the suppliers. Complying with the sustainability requirements set in EU Renewable Energy Directive (RED) with 3rd party verification is one key element in ensuring the sustainability of products.

UPM’s wood sourcing is based on the principles of sustainable forest management, chain 18 Be

UPM R&D centre is located next to the Lappeenranta Biorefinery

Next biorefinery in planning UPM is investigating the production of various advanced biofuels. One of the ongoing projects is biomass-to-liquid (BTL) biorefinery producing advanced biodiesel from energy wood. The raw materials to be used would mainly consist of sustainably sourced energy wood: logging residues, woodchips, stumps and bark.

The possible locations for a biorefinery producing advanced biodiesel are UPM´s UPM ’s advanced biodiesel, UPM BioVerno, is an innovation which will decrease Rauma paper mill in the city of Rauma, greenhouse gas emissions of transport up to 80% Finland and UPM´s Stracel paper mill site trants Reserve) is funded from the sale of emission allowlocated in Strasbourg, France. UPM bioreances in Europe, i.e. the funding comes from the European fineries will be located in connection of company’s current companies who need to buy emission allowances for their pulp and paper mills. This way UPM will gain synergies businesses. The purpose of the programme is to finance in, for example, infrastructure, energy and logistics. The and advance innovative new technology. The programme Environmental Impact Assessment has been completed in is also one of the political decisions targeted for reducing Rauma and Operating Authorization Application process Europe’s carbon footprint. The amount of funding availhas been started in Strasbourg. able is expected to be around EUR 1.3 – EUR 1.5 billion.

UPM has applied for EU’s NER300 grants for BTL biIn addition to an investment grant, the investment deciorefinery from Finland and from France. Both applications sion will be significantly impacted by the long-term outwere passed on to next step to European Investment Bank look for wood price and availability in the market. Good and UPM has been shortlisted in their evaluation. UPM news for forest biomass is that the area of forest in Europe has announced that the BTL biorefinery investment decihas increased by almost 13 million hectares (an area roughsion will be made only after the EU’s grants are decided. ly the size of Greece) over the last 20 years. That is due to EU’s NER300 grant decisions are expected on the second planting of new forests and natural expansion onto unused half of 2012. agricultural land. As a large forest owner (approximately 1 The European Union’s NER300 programme (New Enmillion ha), UPM also ensures regeneration takes place after harvesting, including planting more Wood raw material is the basis of many than 50 million seedlings per different businesses at UPM year. Not only is the forest area increasing but also wood volume Fibres to pulp, is growing, with the sharpest rise paper and composites Bark and branches to BTL (next generation recorded in Nordic countries. biodiesel) and energy

Lignin and fibrils to new products Extractives to Biodiesel

6

| © UPM

Logs for sawn goods and plywood

May 2012

EU 2020 targets create a demand for sustainable biofuels

The EU has made a commitment to increase the use of renewable energy.

Renewable energy replaces fossil fuels, diversifies the energy supply and reduces carbon emissions. Almost one third of renewable energy in Finland is produced by 19 Be

cost-competitive high quality transport fuel that truly decreases emissions and is fully compatible with today's vehicles and fuel distribution systems. UPM biorefinery in Lappeenranta is the first significant investment in a new and innovative production facility in Finland during the ongoing transformation of forest industry. It is also a focal part in the realisation of the Biofore strategy.

UPM aims to become a major player in advanced biofuels. Biofuels fit well to UPM's current businesses – the profound experience in forest biomass and extensive resources can be used effectively for developing biofuels business and executing large scale biofuel projects.

UPM in brief

UPM leads the integration of bio and forest industries into a new, sustainable and innovation-driven future. Our products are made of renewable raw materials and are recyclable. UPM consists of three Business Groups: Energy and pulp, Paper, and Engineered materials. The Group employs around 24,000 people and it has production plants in 17 countries. UPM's annual sales exceed EUR 10 billion.

UPM's shares are listed on the Helsinki stock exchange.

UPM – The Biofore Company – www.upm.com QS2M.de

UPM, most of it originating from Finnish forests and its biomass. However, directing more wood directly to energy production is not the solution. Instead, versatile and effective use of wood is.

The demand for biofuels is expected to grow by approximately 7% a year in the EU. The target of the EU is to increase the share of biofuels in transport fuels to 10% by the year 2020. In Finland, the corresponding target is even more challenging with an increase of 20%. The annual production of UPM’s biorefinery will contribute approximately one fourth of Finland’s biofuel target if sold entirely on the domestic market.

The EU’s renewable energy directive (RED) favours advanced biofuels, which are produced from lignocellulose, waste and residue-based raw materials. According to the current directive, these biofuels are double counted.

UPM’s biofuels exceed the current and continuously tightening sustainability requirements set by both the EU and Finland.

UPM utilises its own development work and sustainable wood-based raw materials. As a result UPM produces a

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WE CARE

industry

INDUSTRIES TEAMING UP TO LAUNCH SUSTAINABLE BIOFUELS On February 4th in Brussels the Chief Executive Officers of seven leading European biofuel producers and European airlines launched a new industry led initiative to speed-up the deployment of advanced sustainable biofuels in Europe.

In particular: •

Accelerate research and innovation into emerging biofuel technologies, including algae and new conversion pathways, supported by public and private R&D&D programmes.

The initiative, named “Leaders of Sustainable Biofuels”, aims at supporting the development of second generation biofuels in Europe. The leaders of Chemtex, British Airways, BTG, Chemrec, Clariant, Dong Energy and UPM are joining forces to ensure the market uptake of advanced sustainable biofuels by all transport sectors.

•

Work together with the supply chain to further develop worldwide accepted sustainability certification.

•

Establish financing structures to facilitate the implementation of sustainable biofuel projects.

•

Publicly promote the benefits of advanced sustainable biofuels.

In the European Union, 10% of all fuels by 2020 must be alternative fuels, the large majority being biofuels. First generation biofuels, made from corn, wheat, soy or palm provide only modest reductions in greenhouse gases and can push up food prices. On the contrary, second generation biofuels are cost-competitive and can reduce GHG emissions by at least 65% compared to fuels made from oil or natural gas.

The “Leaders of Sustainable Biofuels” have established a common strategy based on several actions aimed at accelerating market penetration and technology deployment and use.

The “Leaders of Sustainable Biofuels” also plan to address national policy makers, the European Commission and the European Parliament with a single voice, and invite the rest of the sustainable biofuels industry to follow them on the same path.

“We believe second generation biofuels the “Leaders” stated during the meeting - are also key for the reduction of fossil energy imports in the EU”.

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The “Leaders of Sustainable Biofuels” are: Guido Ghisolfi, CEO, Chemtex

Keith Williams, CEO, British Airways

MANIFESTO OF THE LEADERS OF SUSTAINABLE BIOFUELS •

We, the Leaders of Sustainable Biofuels, believe that 2nd Generation and Advanced Biofuels (2GAB) made from no-food competing feedstocks represent one of the major industrial opportunities today for our planet in the sustainable energy technology field.

•

The world is taking action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and 2GAB are a key part of the solution, because they do not compete with food and have considerably lower environmental impact than fuels made from petroleum oil or natural gas. Significant 2GAB production could be deployed today provided that a policy and regulatory framework enabling long-term investment is implemented.

•

Members of the Leaders of Sustainable Biofuels are committed to developing and investing in innovative advanced and environmentally sound 2GAB industrial systems, bringing the technologies into commercial deployment on a global scale.

•

The Leaders of Sustainable Biofuels have established to set up a common strategy based on several actions aimed at accelerating market penetration and technology deployment and use.

•

The Leaders of Sustainable Biofuels aim at speaking with a single voice and take a leading position in the field of 2nd Generation and Advanced Biofuels.

•

The Leaders of Sustainable Biofuels intend to address the EU policy institutions, (the European Commission and the European Parliament), the National Governments and the financial institutions, on issues of common interest.

•

The Leaders of Sustainable Biofuels liase and interface with the other EU related groups such as the European Biofuels Technology Platform and the European Industrial Bioenergy Initiative.

•

The Leaders of Sustainable Biofuels liase and interface with the other international related groups such as IEA Bioenergy Implementing Agreement and the Global Bioenergy Inititaive.

•

The Leaders of Sustainable Biofuels aim to address and close the existing gap in terms of technology representation, appropriate financial instruments, policy development and lack of market incentives both at EU and national level.

René Venendaal, CEO, BTG

Hariolf Kottmann, CEO, Clariant

Max Jönsson, CEO, Chemrec

Henrik Maimann, Vice President, DONG Energy

Heikki Vappula, President, Energy & Pulp Business Group, UPM

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•

The Leaders of Sustainable Biofuels are determined in stimulating the EU policy towards accelerated industrial research and innovation into emerging biofuel technologies, including algae and new conversion pathways, supported by public and private policies promoting deployment.

•

The Leaders of Sustainable Biofuels will be constructive towards existing biofuel associations and other biofuel organisations and will aim to cooperate with them in areas of common interest.

•

The Leaders of the Sustainable Biofuels is set up by the CEOs of the participating organisations. Members of the Leaders of Sustainable Biofuels must be: technology developers of 2nd generation and advanced biofuels who have already been investing in large scale demonstration scale facilities; investors in plants (demo or flagship) of 2nd generation and advanced biofuels.

•

New Members are invited by unanimous decision of the existing Members. Organisations signing this "manifesto" and agreeing to the above issues shall be invited to become members of the Leaders of Sustainable Biofuels.

NEW AT LINDNER! LIMATOR Impact Crusher Processing of substrates for biogas plants Increase of gas yield Lower stirring times Extended range of substrates Extensive prevention of loating layers Shorter pauses and fermentation times Possibility of pre-heating and cooling of substrate Fewer additives for fermentation process necessary

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www.l-rt.com

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Delivering local bioenergy schemes throughout North West Europe Louise Russell | European Bioenergy Research Institute, Aston University

B

ioenergy is a rapidly growing industry driven by

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source and reduce the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s reliance on fossil fuels.

government policies promoting the use of low

To address this challenge, a group of organisations

carbon energy and waste recycling. Targets to

throughout North West Europe have got together specifi-

increase the security of energy supply and re-

cally to look at how they can assist the provision of renew-

duce greenhouse gas emissions have been set

able energy in their countries. The result is a â&#x201A;Ź8m European

for all European Union members states to ensure the EU

Union INTERREG IVB funded project called BioenNW

reaches a 20% share of renewable energy by 2020.

which sees 14 European partners working together to in-

The progress in North West Europe towards meeting these

crease the rate of implementation of bioenergy provision

challenging targets has been slow. To date, central govern-

within North West Europe, to reduce carbon emissions, and

ment bioenergy support schemes tend to favour large scale

to increase energy security and employment opportunities.

developments that result in the long distance transportation

Led by the European Bioenergy Research Institute

of low density fuels with limited use of heat. Carbon bal-

(EBRI) at Aston University in Birmingham (UK), Bioen-

ances may be positive, but there is no stimulation to the lo-

NW is offering support to companies, organisations and lo-

cal bioenergy economy and many local biomass resources

cal authorities to deliver local bioenergy projects in parts

remain unused. Biomass currently accounts for about half

of the UK, France, Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands

of all renewables in the EU and there is much expertise

by promoting the use of innovative bioenergy power sta-

in biomass available which is not matched or co-ordinated

tions fuelled by waste on a small scale (from 5-10MW

with commercial exploitation. New bioenergy technolo-

output) in five specific regions: West Midlands (UK), Ill-

gies are being developed which offer significant energy

de-France (France), Wallonia (Belgium), Eindhoven (The

efficiency and profit gains but further support is needed to

Netherlands) and North Rhine Westphalia (Germany).

develop these innovations into a viable, sustainable energy

BioenNW is demonstrating the economic viability of pow-

er generation from urban and rural waste by exploring how new technologies can be used with existing anaerobic digestion processes and difficult to manage waste streams to increase the efficiency of these bioenergy procedures.

The project has four main objectives: •

to provide information and support to organisations through the creation of a Bioenergy Support Centre network throughout North West Europe;

•

to create a decision support scheme to

An image of the Pyroformer™ developed at EBRI

determine whether a bioenergy ven-

roformer™ has been thoroughly tested at laboratory scale

ture is feasible;

and is currently testing an industrial scale demonstrator

•

to test a range of potential feedstocks;

at BioenNW partner Harper Adams University College in

•

to create five local small-scale bioenergy installa-

Shropshire. This new technology overcomes many of the

tions that are ready for an investor to develop.

problems other renewable energy solutions have generated.

The bioenergy technologies being promoted through

Tests have shown that unlike other bioenergy plants, the

BioenNW are the combination of anaerobic digestion with

Pyroformer™ has no negative environmental or food secu-

intermediate pyrolysis, specifically a Pyroformer™ devel-

rity effects. Its use of multiple waste sources means it does

oped by researchers at the European Bioenergy Research

not require the destruction of rainforests or the use of agri-

Institute. The EBRI Pyroformer™ uses a patented heat

cultural land for the growth of specialist bioenergy crops.

transfer mechanism to pyrolyse and chemically process

As well as generating heat and power, the Pyroformer™

waste material in a single step using a coaxial Archimedes

also dramatically reduces the amount of material sent to

screw system and an externally heated jacket. This inter-

landfill.

mediate pyrolysis is a cutting edge technology working in

This technology gets better - the overall process is not

contrast to existing slow and fast pyrolysis techniques. The

just carbon neutral, it is actually carbon negative as up to

reaction temperature for this process is around 450-500˚C,

25% of carbon can be saved as biochar (a by-product of

with a greatly reduced vapour residence time of a few sec-

the process) and sequesters and returned to the soil in the

onds - the solids’ residence time can be varied as desired.

form of fertilizer. This biochar fertilizer can then be used

As the reaction occurs under controlled heating levels it

to increase crop yields or sold for up to £1000 per tonne.

avoids the formation of tar which is problematic for other

Given the success of these trials, it is estimated that the

forms of pyrolysis as clogging occurs and prevents the ma-

units could be scalable to 5 -10MW of electrical power.

chinery from working.

The Pyroformer™ is capable of processing up to 100 kg/h

The Pyroformer™ also allows the more efficient cou-

of biomass feed and when coupled with a Gasifier it will

pling with gasifier equipment to produce a consistent gas

have an output of 400 kWeI – the equivalent to providing

output that can be mixed with biodiesel to drive combined

power for 800 homes.

heat and power (CHP) engines. It can also be used with

The tests conducted at Harper Adams University College

a Bio Activated Fuels Reactor (another Aston University

have enabled BioenNW to look at the integrated opera-

patented system) to reclaim the oils in plastics to add to the

tion of intermediate pyrolysis and anaerobic digestion at a

fuel mix. Other by-products of this pyrolysis process are

commercially operational level. The University College’s

hydrogen gas, synthetic natural gas and biodiesel.

anaerobic digestion plant currently provides 75% of power

The Pyroformer™ is unique in its use of multiple waste feedstocks to generate cost-effective heat and power. The

for its campus and with the addition of a Pyroformer™, this is increased to 100%.

process is emission free and following significant R&D

Tests have shown that this 100kg/hr Pyroformer™ has

investment the technology is now ‘near market’. The Py-

performed well with few problems arising. Any problems 25 Be

news

The benefits of the Pyroformer Increased process efficiency Sealed process - no emissions Applicable to a wide range of waste feedstock No need for feedstock pre-treatment Decentralized generation of electricity Reduction of waste sent to landfill High quality chars and vapour streams as co-products Potentially carbon-negative by re-use of biochar

lands region of the UK, over 1,000 indirect jobs could be created in the region by 2022 as a result of this bioenergy technology. This would see an increase in the turnover of the West Midlands’ regional bioenergy industry and would result in an increase in Net Regional GVA of £105 million by the same date.

A network of local Bioenergy Support Centres (one in each of the project countries) has been established through the BioenNW project to disseminate information about this technology by acting as an information hub in each country. Each Centre is providing free advice to organisations, local authorities and the public on local bioenergy schemes and these available technologies. All of the Bioenergy Support Centres are

encountered have provided valuable lessons for and have

currently looking for members to join and the organi-

been dealt with swiftly. The Pyroformer™ has been op-

sations that sign up for this free membership being offered

erational for over 200 hours since April 2012 and signifi-

through the project will have access to a European network

cant feedstock tests have been conducted. Dried anaerobic

of other, similar organisations to share knowledge and ex-

residue, sewage sludge, husk from rice, wheat, barley, oil

periences.

pressing cake from rape, soy bean, cocoa butter, olive, sun-

Professor Andreas Hornung, who is the Head of EBRI

flower, straw from rape, wheat, rice, miscanthus, wood, al-

and the Leader of the BioenNW project believes the project

gae, corn residue, meat and bone meal, residues from com-

will set an example for the rest of Europe to follow: “Bioen-

posting, grass, spent brewers grain and tyres are all able to

NW is helping to make bioenergy initiatives a reality by

be processed by the Pyroformer™.

demonstrating a truly green and sustainable energy solu-

Data is currently being collected on the energy produced,

tion for organisations and communities throughout North

quality of the by-products, emissions, gas quality and costs

West Europe. If you are looking for a clean energy source

and the demonstration site has also beeen used for techni-

that can ensure energy security and market growth without

cal training and information dissemination. Research into

damaging people or planet, we have the solution.”

boosting biogas yields using the aqueous liquors from the Pyrformer™ is also being undertaken. Returning the wa-

If you would like to find out more about BioenNW you

ter phase of pyrolysis to the anaerobic digestion process

can call 0121 204 4303, email bioenergy@aston.ac.uk or

can boost gas yield and therefore increase energy output.

visit www.bioenergy-nw.eu.

Many interested parties from all five countries have visited the demonstration site where they have been able to see the technology in operation, with visitors including Anthea McIntyre MEP. The Pyroformer™ is due to move to the Aston University campus at the end of this year and will be operational as a demonstrator in the new European Bioenergy Research Institute building where it will be providing the heat and electricity needed to power this new building.

The Pyroformer™ also offers significant business benefits. In the UK alone, the Government estimated that the global market for low carbon goods and services in 2009 was worth around £3 trillion a year and would be worth £4.5 trillion by 2015. EBRI believes that in the West Mid26 Be

projects

Continuous industrial biomass torrefaction & carbonisation technology The very innovative and efficient Revtech technology combines heating by the contact of an electrically heated stainless steel tube, mixing and transport by vibrations in this spiral tube and controlled atmosphere to roast, carbonate or pyrolyze your biomass: wood (wood chips, shavings, sawdust, ….), agricultural waste, straw, cereal waste, fruit pips,…

 Very homogeneous treatment  Operation in a controlled atmosphere without oxygen: risk of fire eliminated

 Low

inertia and precise control of the operating parameters

revtech@revtech.fr

 Excellent energy efficiency (around 80 to 90%)  Very low energy consumption: around 200 to 250 kW.h to roast 1 ton of wood chips from 20% to 3% humidity

+33 4 75 60 16 33

27

www.revtech-process-systems.comBe

Biomass GasificatioN New opportunities from the emerging bio-based economy

A new publication, entitled â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Handbook of Biomass Gasification - Second Edition', has been released in September 2012 by Dutch BTG - Biomass Technology Group.

This release is the successor of the first handbook issued in 2005. This fully updated and expanded edition reviews the current state of technology and describe the latest success stories in gasification of biomass. The handbook aims at guiding newcomers as well as people that are already familiar with or involved in biomass gasification, be it as researchers and technology developers, policy developers, investors, end-users or other decision makers.

H.A.M. Knoef | Biomass Technology Group

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Figure 1: The gasification plant in Guessing, Austria

technology

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ince several decades biomass gasification offers the perspective of resource-efficient production of energy and co-products in poly-generation systems. More recently, biomass gasification has come to be seen as a central part of integrated biorefineries. The concept of biorefineries involves the sustainable processing of biomass into a spectrum of valueadded materials and energy, in much the same way as the feedstock in a conventional refinery is separated and refined into various fuels and products.

The shift in interest to integrated biorefineries has led to an associated shift in the targeted application of the synthesis gas (a mixture of CO and H2) that is produced in biomass gasification. Pure syngas is the building block for organic chemistry, and in principle all products now being produced from fossil fuels can also be produced from syngas made from renewable biomass. Therefore, biomass gasification is nowadays much less focused on energy production but more on the production of high-added value products including transportation fuels, chemicals, Synthetic Natural Gas (SNG), etc.

Another shift is the change in feedstock materials for biomass gasification. In the early days biomass gasification plants were based on peat, charcoal, lignite, etc. Later, feedstocks like wood and agricultural waste were used.

More recently, there is a strong tendency to valorise the organic matter in waste streams, due to new regulations under the EU â&#x20AC;&#x153;Landfill Directiveâ&#x20AC;? and the shortage of af-

fordable clean biomass feedstocks.

Confidence in biomass gasification waned somewhat in the first years after the turn of the century as the technology did not fully meet the high expectations. Dedicated R&D projects were sponsored by the European Commission and several national governments in the nineties but did not lead immediately to major technological breakthroughs.

The current interest in establishing a bio-based economy is offering new opportunities to boost biomass gasification, and in the last few years quite some technical progress has been made. The release of a second edition of the Handbook of Biomass Gasification, after that the first was published in 2005 thus seemed timely.

Biomass gasification principles

Biomass gasification is the thermal conversion of a heterogeneous solid material into a gaseous intermediate fuel, consisting primarily of carbon monoxide and hydrogen, which can be used for the production of heat, power, liquid fuels, and chemicals. Biomass is the only renewable source of organic carbon, and its use is a key issue of sustainable development. The gasification of biomass has the potential to offer a major contribution to meeting the international targets for CO2 mitigation.

The technology of gasification was first commercialized using various grades of coal, but biomass resources such as wood have a unique environmental advantage over traditional fossil fuels in that the gasification of biomass has a mitigating effect on global warming, when a renewable

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biomass fuel is used instead of a fossil fuel.

Bio-based products also have unique properties compared with hydrocarbon-derived products, like for instance biodegradability and bio-compatibility. In fact, their marketing is made easier because of their ‘‘natural’’ or ‘‘bio’’ label. Moreover, biomass is the only resource of renewable carbon, which is essential for sustainable products like fuels and chemicals.

Different biomass materials have been gasified like forestry residues, thinnings, wood residues from wood processing inFigure 2: Differentiation of thermal conversion processes dustry, SRF, agricultural waste, oil bearing plants and the organic part of waste resiT’s (temperature, turbulence and time). To explain and predues. These materials are available in various forms, and dict the gas composition, the dimensionless parameter ER, need to be stored and transported to the location of the conthe equivalence ratio is introduced. This is the amount of version technology. oxygen used relative to the amount required for complete Numerous biomass gasification technologies exist today combustion. The exact amount of air needed for complete in various stages of development. Some are simple sysconversion of wood to carbondioxide and water is called tems, while others employ a high degree of integration for the stoïchiometric air. It can be calculated theoretically if maximum energy utilization. Examples of such integration the biomass elemental composition is known. is the use of steam raised in syngas cooling, the usage of By adding more or less oxygen, different processes octhe steam flow into the steam power section of an IGCC cur as illustrated in figure 2. If excess air (ER > 1) is suppower plant, and the combined production of syngas, pure plied – like in an open fire – combustion takes place releasH2, electricity and steam. Optimal utilization of products ing only heat, leaving some ashes behind, and some char which are normally considered as being undesired like tar when the combustion process is not optimal. When less air and ash needs attention. is added, several products are obtained. At an ER of typiParticularly at small scale, tar is a problematic by-prodcally 0,25 the main product is a combustible gas. In case of uct in most cases, creating various problems in downstream air gasification this combustible gas called “producer gas” equipment. It can be thermal/catalytically cracked to prowhich contains carbon monoxide (CO),Hydrogen (H2), duce more gas, or physically removed from the gas. In the carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrogen (N2) latter case, tar can also be viewed as an intermediate prodas the main components. Besides this producer gas, also uct because it is one of the easiest feedstock for gasifiers heat, tar and char/ash are produced. Generally, the amount and it has a high energy density. of tar and char should be minimized. If the ER is approachThe conversion of biomass and waste in gasification ing zero, the main product is a pyrolysis oil, charcoal or processes is often combined with pyrolysis, combustion or torrefied material. both like in multi-stage gasification concepts. In these conBesides the various thermal conversion processes, there cepts, the gasification, pyrolysis and/or combustion procare also different processes to be distinguished within the esses are physically separated. It is therefore important to gasification process itself. Again, different variations exists have a good understanding of the difference between those on the steps involved in the literature, but the preferred way processes. to explain the various processes during gasification is like The different processes can be explained by a combined in figure 3. effect of the amount air supplied to the wood and the 3

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Figure 3: Main steps of gasification

Producergas cleaning Syngas from gasification of carbonaceous feedstocks is used for power production and synthesis of fuels and commodity chemicals. Impurities in gasification feedstocks, especially sulfur, nitrogen, chlorine, and ash, often find their way into syngas and can interfere with downstream applications. Incomplete gasification can also produce undesirable products in the syngas in the form of tar and particulate char. Several technologies for removing contaminants from syngas are available and are classified according to the gas temperature exiting the cleanup device: hot (T > 300oC), cold (T < ~100oC), and warm gas cleaning regimes. Cold gas cleanup uses relatively mature techniques that are highly effective although they often generate waste water streams and may suffer from energy inefficiencies.

The majority of these techniques are based on using wet scrubbers. Hot gas cleaning technologies are attractive because they avoid cooling and reheating the gas stream.

Many of these are still under development given the technical difficulties caused by extreme environments. Warm gas cleaning technologies include traditional particulate removal devices along with new approaches for removing tar and chlorine.

Producergas utilization

In the discussion on the utilisation of gases from biomass gasification it is important to understand that gas specifications are different for the various gas applications. Furthermore, the composition of the gasification gas is very dependent on the type of gasification process and especially the gasification temperature. Based on the general composition and the typical applications, two main types of gasification gas can be distinguished as shown in figure 4.

The major application of product gas will be the direct use for the generation of power (and heat). This can be either in stand-alone combined heat and power (CHP) plants Biomass

low temperature gasification (800-1000°C)

or by co-firing of the product gas in large-scale power plants. The second major application of product gas is the production of synthetic natural gas (SNG). A summary of the main application is listed below: • Co-firing: this is the most straightforward application of product gas is co-firing in existing coal power plants by injecting the product gas in the combustion zone of the coal boiler. Co-firing percentages up to 10% (on energy basis) are feasible without the need for substantial modifications of the coal boiler. Critical issue in co-firing is the impact of the biomass ash on the quality of the boiler fly and bottom ash.

• Combined heat and power (CHP): in CHP plants the product gas is fired in engines or turbines. Modified gas engines can run without problems on most product gases.

• Integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC): for electricity production on larger scales, integrated gasification combined cycles are preferred in which the gas is fired on a gas turbine.

• Fuel cells: the application of product gas in fuel cells for the production of electricity is still in its early development and requires a very clean product gas.

• Synthetic Natural Gas (SNG): whereas high-temperature gasification processes yield biosyngases with high concentrations of carbon monoxide and little methane, interest in Synthetic Natural Gas (SNG) production is focused on gasification processes that yield product gases with high methane contents. SNG is a gas with similar properties as natural gas but produced by methanation of H2 and CO in gasification product gas.

• Transportation fuels: in the future, biosyngas will become increasingly important for the production of ultra-clean designer fuels from GTL processes, with

high temperature gasification (1200-1400°C) Product gas CO, H2, CH4, C2H2

Biosyngas CO, H2

FT diesel Methanol / DME Ammonia Hydrogen Chemical industry Electricity SNG Electricity

Figure 4: Two biomass-derived gases via gasification at different temperature levels: ‘biosyngas’ and ‘product gas’ and their typical applications.

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the main examples being Fischer-Tropsch diesel and methanol/DME. Methanol: methanol can be produced by means of the catalytic reaction of carbon monoxide and some carbon dioxide with hydrogen.

The presence of a certain amount of carbon dioxide in the percentage range is necessary to optimise the reaction.

Finally, the product gas can be used in the chemical synthesis like ammonia for fertiliser production, hydroformylation of olefins, hydrogen in refineries, mixed alcohols, carbon monoxide, olefins and aromatics.

Figure 5: The Harboøre gasification plant

Health, Safety & Environmental aspects

Pilot and prototype biomass gasifiers often operate under temporary (trial) environmental licenses for which emission limits are usually somewhat ‘relaxed’. For gasifiers intended for commercial operation permitting authorities have a tendency to impose unreasonably strict emission limits and safety measures due to their lack of familiarity with and understanding of the technology. For permitting authorities and other key market actors it appears difficult to properly appreciate Health, Safety and Environmental (HSE) risks. This lack of knowledge and poor appreciation of HSE hazards was identified by leading experts from various gasification networks as an important barrier for the implementation of gasification technology.

Success Stories

Although there is no doubt of the important role of gasification for the introduction of biomass into our energy system the discussion about the further development of this

technology is controversial. One frequently given argument is that biomass gasification has got a lot of public funding over many years but the commercial break through has not been reached up to now. On the other hand one can also recognize that in the field of biomass gasification essential progress has been reached over the last years. There are certain implementations where biomass gasification is already used successfully e.g. for co-firing in fossil fuel power stations for power generation. But there are also other gasification plants, e.g. for combined heat and power production, which are operated successfully and show a satisfying performance.

The Handbook covers various successful installations like the CHP Güssing gasifier plant in Austria (figure 1), the Harboøre plant in Denmark (figure 5), the Kymiarvi Power Station, Lahti, Finland, etc. In figures 6 and 7, the Güssing and Harboøre plants are shown and their availability. As these examples show details about the technical performance and their availability is fairly good, they can be considered as the most successful plants in operation for many years.

hours 8000 7000

gasifier engine

hours 4000 3500

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2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Figure 6: Availability data of the Güssing gasifier

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2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

Figure 7: The Harboøre gasification plant CHP - Energy source

technology

ABOUT THE HANDBOOK This fully updated and expanded second version of the Handbook of Biomass Gasification reviews the current state of technology and describe the latest success stories.

The preparation of the handbook is made possible by the pro bono contribution of respected international experts regarding various aspects of biomass gasification. Hopefully this book will become a valuable tool in disseminating knowledge and helping the further development of biomass gasification as an efficient and commercial technology for the renewable production of heat, power, liquid fuels, and chemicals. This handbook is composed of the following sections: 1. Updates of chapters from the first Handbook like Success Stories.

2. Theoretical aspects in biomass gasification.

3. Applications of the product gas.

4. Various subjects which are related to biomass gasification, like: • Permitting issues of biomass gasification.

• Waste gasification with a special focus on plasma gasification. As the availability of biomass becomes scarce (in terms of quantity and price) waste-to-energy technologies are considered to become a more attractive market.

• Experiences from the past; one chapter is dealing with an overview of the developments on multi-stage gasification concepts, while a second chapter is summarizing the results of a ten-years worldwide monitoring program.

• Health, Safety and Environmental (HSE) aspects in biomass gasification.

5. Experiences in various countries. Country reviews of three relevant countries – as far as biomass gasification is concerned – are included: Germany, China and India.

All chapter authors are respected international experts in various fields and aspects of biomass gasification and each chapter can be read separately and in a different order. As much as possible information from various sources is used to compile the chapters, but the information is by no means meant to be complete.

Full title: Handbook on Biomass Gasification – Second Edition Edited by: H.A.M. Knoef Published by : BTG Biomass Technology Group - The Netherlands ISBN: 9789081938501 Order online at: www.btgworld.com

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Sustainability at work

How can a certification scheme practically help bioenergy companies increase their sustainability performance?

Jan Henke | ISCC

ISCC and ISCC PLUS ISCC is the world's first state-recognized certification scheme for sustainability and greenhouse gas emissions. It can be applied to all kinds of biomass and biobased products. About 200 companies are currently using ISCC successfully worldwide in 70 countries. ISCC has been developed with the involvement of more than 250 stakeholders from Europe, the Americas and Southeast Asia.

In addition to the ISCC scheme for biofuels that was amongst the first schemes recognized by the European Commission, ISCC PLUS was developed. This was a logical development to also offer the opportunity to producers and market participants in the area of food, feed and solid biomass, for the chemical industry and technical applications to achieve sustainability certification for all types of biomass based products. The inclusion of further supply chains into the certification is also an important contribution to tackle the indirect land use change (iLUC) effects.

The principles of credible sustainability certification

Any certification scheme should be evaluated according to the following three dimensions1: • Sustainability criteria: These shall include comprehensive environmental, social and economic criteria.

Ecological aspects cover a wide range of criteria, for example conservation of areas which are highly biodiverse or have a high carbon stock, handling and storage of agricultural chemicals, residual and waste material management, the protection of soil, water, air as well as species. Social criteria include strict compliance to human rights, land use regulations and proprietary interests as well as rights of indigenous populations and labor legislation and protection. Economic criteria aim for at least sustaining the operational situation. The sustainability standard should include principles, criteria and indicators and verification guidance for auditors.

• Chain of custody: Traceability must be guaranteed throughout the entire value chain. It must be verifiable that at the different system participants in a 34 Be

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supply chain the amount of sustainable material sold does not exceed the equivalent amount of sustainable inputs. Clear chain of custody rules must be implemented.

Governance: Reliable and transparent governance processes must be in place. This includes the quality of the implementation of the standard and the control mechanisms. The quality of the implementation for example includes issues like standardized reporting requirements, checklists, risk management, system development and improvement. The quality of the control mechanisms includes the type, frequency and independence of controls and training of auditors by the system.

The development of ISCC

The development of ISCC started in 2007 with a concept phase in a multi-stakeholder process. After a first concept for a certification scheme was agreed on, it became clear that a further development of a scheme that in the end would work in practice could only take place in a pilot phase. After a two-year pilot phase the sustainability criteria, chain of custody rules and governance processes were clear. Based on this, the system documents were developed, describing objectives, content, and processes of the entire system. A public consultation phase followed. Feedback received was integrated in the scheme. ISCC then became the first scheme worldwide for sustainability and greenhouse gas certification that received a state-recognition. The German Government recognized ISCC in January 2010. After that the operational phase began. In July 2011, ISCC was one of the first schemes recognized by the European Commission.

Today ISCC is cooperating with 22 certification bodies and has qualified about 350 auditors in so far 20 ISCC trainings around the world. The number of system participants keeps on rising. ISCC is a non profit organization steered by an association with more than 60 members. The association is open for new members.

ISCC has a positive impact on the ground with respect to sustainability and greenhouse gas emissions. To fulfill the

Based on WWF Deutschland (2012): Ein Standard für die Standards. Nachhaltigkeitsstandards für Agrarrohstoffe. Berlin.

sustainability

ISCC requirements that in the area of environmental and social performance go beyond the legal requirements certain farmers had to adapt their practices and invest to improve the situation. For example, investments into a better handling and storage of fertilizers and pesticides, training of employees and social premises can be observed. In addition, investments took place at conversion units to improve the greenhouse gas performance. Therefore, sustainability certification comes with a cost. However, also farmers and conversion units were able to benefit from the certification as price premiums are paid for certified raw material and finished products.

It is also positive that financial institutions today have started to make sustainability certification a precondition for investments into agricultural projects. By extending certification into all other end uses of biomass, ISCC with the development of ISCC PLUS also contributes to the extension of the application of the sustainability requirements outside the bioenergy sector. This is an important mechanism to tackle iLUC and to prevent an absurd situation where sustainability requirements for the same type of raw material applied for other end uses than biofuels are lower.

Mushrooming of certification schemes

Until today, the European Commission has recognized 13 certification schemes. More than 25 applications are in front of the Commission. Some of the schemes only received a partial recognition, not covering the calculation of actual greenhouse gas values or the criteria on highly biodiverse grassland. In addition some member states have implemented so-called national schemes which are not recognized by the European Commission.

The proliferation of different certification schemes in-

creases complexity and reduces transparency for market participants and other interested parties. It can cause problems regarding the deliveries between the schemes. Requirements already in place in some member states with respect to highly biodiverse grassland cannot be controlled by all of the schemes recognized by the European Commission. Some schemes are not recognized for grassland others have no recognition for GHG calculations. Characteristics of the systems differ significantly. Some are company owned schemes, others follow a multi-stakeholder approach, some are single feedstock, other multi feedstock schemes, some only cover biofuels, others can cover all end uses.

Harmonization of the operations between the schemes is missing. In addition, the different implementation of the RED in the different member states and the administrative handling of certification by the member states creates additional difficulties. The schemes should be better controlled to guarantee a minimum level playing field. This is also necessary to prevent a race-to-the-bottom where the schemes with the lowest sustainability requirements and the least controls could be the dominating schemes in the end. If this cannot be guaranteed the instrument of sustainability certification as a means to credibly proof compliance with certain sustainability and greenhouse gas requirements and to set incentives for sustainable behavior is at risk. This would undermine the positive developments within the biofuels sector but also beyond the use of biomass for biofuels which can already be observed. It would reduce incentives and benefits from sustainable behavior again and the separation of global commodity markets into certified sustainable products and non-certified products would be at risk.

Conclusions

Sustainability and greenhouse gas certification in the area of biofuels is well established via voluntary certification schemes that are recognized by the European Commission.

ISCC can look back to almost three years of operational experience in 70 countries around the world. It can be observed that real sustainability improvements are taking place on the ground at ISCC certified entities and that producers benefit from price premiums for certified material. Nevertheless, some challenges remain. In Figure 1: ISCC Principle 2: Example storage of diesel

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Figure 2: ISCC Principle 3: Example on site living quarters

particular, there is a need for harmonization and control of the recognized certification schemes. Only by sufficiently controlling the schemes and guaranteeing a minimum level of verification and security, sustainability certification can continue to be a successful tool. This should be the target of all stakeholders as no alternative to certification exists for the differentiation of certified sustainable products from non-certified products.

ISCC is globally known as a credible, independent, transparent, cost-efficient and practicable certification scheme implementing a high quality standard. However, as ISCC is a learning system and follows a continuous improvement approach the development is not meant to stop here. An expansion of sustainability certification into other biomass sectors is inevitable to provide credible solutions to sustainability problems in agricultural markets. Under ISCC PLUS this expansion is already taking place and is heavily requested by respective industries. The approach also offers a solution to tackle indirect effects.

Case study: Sustainability audit on plantation

Within ISCC all audits are carried out by auditors working for certification bodies which are cooperating with ISCC. The auditor must fulfill certain qualification requirements and in addition, must have participated in the three day ISCC training before he can conduct audits. The sustainability audit, for example of an oil palm plantation, must cover all six ISCC principles: 1. Biomass shall not be produced on land with high biodiversity value or high carbon stock. HCV areas shall be protected.

2. Biomass shall be produced in an environmentally responsible way. This includes the protection of soil, water and air and the application of Good Agricultural Practices.

3. Safe working conditions through training and education, use of protective clothing and proper and timely assistance in the event of accidents.

4. Biomass production shall not violate human rights 36 Be

labour rights or land rights. It shall promote responsible labour conditions and workers' health, safety and welfare and shall be based on responsible community relations.

5.

Biomass production shall take place in compliance with all applicable regional and national laws and shall follow relevant international treaties.

6.

Good management practices shall be implemented.

Principle 1 sets rules on the protection of highly biodiverse areas, areas that are protected for nature conservation, areas with high carbon stock (forests, wetlands), grassland and peatland. ISCC includes the strictest rules on those areas by excluding them completely from conversion to plantations. In order to analyze the compliance with principle 1 the first step of an audit includes a risk analysis on the proximity of the concerned plantations to those no-go areas. The risk-analysis leads to different risk classifications. If a high risk is identified audit intensity needs to be increased. For the risk analysis the auditor can include international and national databases like the “World Database on Protected Areas” (WDPA), the “Integrated Biodiversity Assessment Tool” (IBAT) or the database on “Global Lakes and Wetlands” (GLWD). ISCC also offers the option to use remote sensing data analysis to detect and classify possible land use change. Furthermore, ISCC has set up so-called country guidelines to provide additional information on region-specific requirements and issues. Onsite audits further specify the situation on the ground and help the auditor to verify if principle 1 is violated.

Next to principle 1 also principles 2 – 6 are verified onsite. Principle 2 relates to environmental responsible production and includes the protection of soil, water and air.

The criteria comprise inter alia measures on soil and wind erosion, soil organic matter and –biodiversity, irrigation, eutrophication of water bodies, waste handling as well as handling and storage of plant protection products and other agro-chemicals. In order to verify these criteria the auditor checks important documents, like fertilization records or invoices of plant protection products as well as the results of continuous sample taking like the soil organic matter analysis, does local inspection, e.g. of pesticide storage facilities and furthermore checks the awareness of responsible workers and the management.

Safe working conditions (principle 3) include issues on health, safety and hygiene of a palm-oil plantation. First of

sustainability

must be written down in the ISCC audit documents (procedures). The certification body then reviews the audit report and decides whether the certificate can be issued. Only after receiving complete records from the certification body and checking their compliance with the details of registration of the company, ISCC issues Figure 3: ISCC Principle 3: Example storage of hazardous material and warning signs the certificate and uploads it on the all health, safety and hygiene policy and procedures must ISCC website. be available. On-site verification includes visual inspection After receiving the certificate, the company can issue of first aid kits, protective clothing, potential hazards, food sustainability declarations for its products. This allows storage areas, dining areas, washing facilities, drinking waaccess to the EU biofuel market. On top of that it offers ter and on site living quarters. Furthermore, auditors check additional benefits to producers. Price premiums for certithe training and sufficient qualifications of employees in fied products are paid. Furthermore the company has also personal interviews. the possibility to expand certification to products for other Within the principle 4 the auditor must verify that humarkets, like the chemical industry, food or feed and thus man rights, labor rights and land rights are not violated. satisfy increasing customer requests with one integrated The criteria are adapted to the core ILO labor standards sustainability certification approach. on forced labor, child labor, discrimination, the freedom ISCC has set up a comprehensive integrity management to join labor organizations, payment of living wages, legal in order to increase reliability and security of the scheme. contracts and contract farming. A responsible person for In cases of justified doubts with respect to issued certifiworkers’ health, safety and good social practice must be cates or on a random sample basis, ISCC has the option to available and impacts on surrounding communities must send out independent ISCC integrity auditors for an integbe considered. Next to a local inspection of the situation rity audit to verify audit results. on-site, the auditor can hold interviews with management, Throughout almost three years of operations ISCC has employees, regional administration or other stakeholders observed many cases in practice where sustainability and on the performance of the plantation. greenhouse gas certification has triggered investments Next to ISCC specific principles, the auditor also has to which increased sustainability. For example on farm level, verify if the plantation complies with national laws (principlant protection storage facilities have been improved or ple 5). Principle 6 sets requirements on the management of set up, handling of hazardous material has been improved, record keeping of the production area of the plantation as trainings have been implemented and workers’ conditions well as sub-contractors. improved. And also with respect to touching principle 1 arThe auditor verifies all these criteria with the help of deeas the sustainability criteria have been considered before tailed ISCC procedures that give guidance on the verificataking any decisions. tion as well as examples of documents and other evidence which are accepted as proof.

In contrast to other certification schemes, ISCC includes all parts of a concerned palm oil plantation within its scope.

“Cherry picking” of some compliant fields of a legal entity is not allowed. If principle 1 is violated the audit must be stopped immediately. A certification of this plantation is International Sustainability and Carbon Certification not possible.

(ISCC) If any of the ISCC major musts of principle 2 - 6 are viowww.iscc-system.org lated and the violation cannot be corrected within a certain info@iscc-system.org time-frame a successful certification is also not possible.

The results of an audit, conformities and non-conformities 37 Be

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