PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
Bioenergy is the primary renewable energy source in the EU, representing 60% of final energy consumption, of which 76% is woody and other solid biomass. Biomass is generally considered to be an intermediate solution for the energy transition in the EU with many Member States planning to increase use of biomass to meet renewable energy targets. This is especially true in the Central and Eastern European (CEE) region. According to the original national energy and climate plans (NECPs), Bulgaria plans to increase biomass use for heating by 44%, Hungary envisages a 40% growth in the bioheat and bioenergy sector, and Romania plans to increase biomass-based consumption in the heating sector by 24% before 2030.
OBJECTIVES
The overall objective of LIFE BIO-BALANCE was to support EU Member States’ shift to a low-carbon and resilient economy by ensuring that solid biomass is produced and used sustainably. The project was delivered in three CEE countries: Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania.
The project built multi-stakeholder, multi-sector policy and knowledge sharing processes at the national and local level to ensure that biomass was balanced with other feasible alternatives. The project also sought to ensure that only solid biomass with high sustainability be included in updated NECPs, long-term strategies (LTS), sustainable energy and climate action plans (SECAPs), and in the EU Renewable Energy Directive (RED II) revision process. Action at all levels was needed if Member States are to reach the newly proposed 55% emission reduction target by 2030.
The project developed an open-source tool to differentiate biomass value chains according to sustainability criteria, namely: efficiency, greenhouse gas savings and LULUCF (land use, land-use change and forestry), and forest sustainability. This tool built on the existing framework of user-friendly modelling tools, offering modules relevant at different scales: installation-level, municipal-level and national-level.
The specific objectives were:
- development of an integrated biomass governance framework in Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania. Mainstreaming of biomass sustainability, emission reduction and resource efficiency across five related sectors (forestry, environment, electricity and heat, energy efficiency of buildings and energy poverty)
- enabling of national governments to ensure biomass sustainability in their national climate strategy update process
- development of recommendations with more sustainable biomass criteria, best practice policies and updates to the 3 countries’ NECPs and LTS through National biomass panels
- raised awareness of best practices with stakeholders and citizens in 4 firewood-dependent, energy poor municipalities
- showcasing of best practices and fostered behavioural change in firewood-dependent communities and municipalities
- collaborative knowledge sharing and action between municipalities, local civil society organisations (CSOs) and active citizens, fostering the implementation of biomass best practices
- replication and transfer of solid biomass sustainability at municipal, Member State and EU level, resulting fromadvocacy and promotion of project approaches
- raised awareness of biomass sustainability
- technical audiences collaborated and promoted LIFE BIO-BALANCE, resulting in the general public of target countries being made aware of the need for greater biomass sustainability
While the primary purpose of the national biomass panels was to influence the 2030 NECPs and 2050 strategies, the involvement of governments, NGOs and research bodies in the panel processes generated synergies and contributed towards the integration of LIFE BIO-BALANCE solutions into other European Green Deal environmental objectives and policy areas. The project contributed to the ’green buildings’ focus area of the European Climate Pact and influenced the revision of EU-wide solid biomass sustainability criteria in the current RED II. LIFE BIO-BALANCE increased climate actions on the national and European Climate Law levels by developing country-level recommendations and organising dialogue with policy makers on NECPs and LTS recommendations. The project also increased climate actions at EU level by developing guidelines based on NECP recommendations.
Other policy areas where the project made a contribution include the new EU forest strategy and the EU biodiversity strategy. By promoting stronger sustainability criteria, the project positively affected the preservation of existing forests and promoted best practices on the national and local levels, decreasing the supply for woody biomass. LIFE BIO-BALANCE supported eligible regions to access the Just Transition Fund to support their transition to low carbon and climate-resilient activities rather than conversion of coal to biomass. By promoting the uptake of best practices in building renovation and low carbon energy generation, the project contributed to a flagship of the EU recovery fund (NextGenerationEU). In addition, it contributed to the objectives of the EU circular economy action plan, national objectives to reduce energy poverty and integration into NECPs and the EU’s Energy Performance of Buildings Directive.
RESULTS
The project achieved as planned:
- Developed recommendations on how governments can strengthen the sustainability criteria on a national level and how the issue of biomass sustainability should be addressed in the revision of the 2030 climate plans (National Energy and Climate Plans) and 2050 long-term strategies.
- Direct support of more than 7 000 households to use firewood in a more efficient and clean way, and to invest in energy efficiency.
- Developed guidelines, organised webinars and conferences. Altogether more than 90 experts participated in 21 workshops. Collected best practices on the topic of renewables, building energy efficiency and energy poverty from existing NECPs and EU-funded projects. Three national knowledge and action hubs were created and at least 60 best practices per country were shared by platform users.
- EAP developed the SustainEnBio tool to assess different impacts (national, regional, local (municipality) and even at power-plant level). The tool was designed as an open-source desktop app that differentiates forest biomass chains in terms of the sustainability criteria: 1) efficiency 2) GHG savings 3) LULUCF and forest sustainability. It was developed as a stepwise calculation engine with four modules that provide a comprehensive assessment of biomass resources and their impacts as well as alternative energy impacts.
The main recommendations of the project based on the project experience, discussions and local pilots are:
- Member States should not grant financial support for any primary (i.e. directly coming from the forest) wood-to-energy biomass.
- The cascading use principle, as mandated by the RED, should be applied without invoking any derogation possibilities: prioritising use of biomass over energy use wherever possible.
- Member States should set up ambitious targets beyond the 2030 LULUCF national target and set limits on biomass use accordingly by creating a strong link between the sink target and the planned demand for forest biomass for energy.
- Member States should improve their forestry legislation and enforcement practices to minimise illegal logging and trading.
- Member States should ensure that the availability of high-quality, reliable and detailed data should be a prerequisite for any kind of biomass sustainability assessment.
- Improvement of energy efficiency in firewood-user households can decrease the use of firewood significantly.
- A clear definition of energy poverty is needed, along with SMART objectives and monitoring indicators.
- As households are the main consumers of forestry biomass in the target countries, their support is fundamental in addressing biomass sustainability.
- The results of a total of 2 400 household questionnaires show that 45% of the buildings are at least 50 years old and approximately half of the households have insulation on the walls. Half have also replaced their old windows, however, only around 15% are planning to invest in energy saving measures. On average, firewood is dried for around 4 months, but 5 months is believed sufficient to dry firewood. These results suggests that there is significant potential to increase energy efficiency and decrease air pollution on household level.
The pilot actions achieved the following per implementation site:
- Ág (HU): rotating fund for purchasing firewood, old wood stoves were replaced by new, more efficient one, called “heat columns” and developed by Habitat for Humanity Hungary, in 6 households and replacement of old windows and doors in 12 households, and savings group and community treasury
- Botevgrad (BG): community firewood storage and drying units for 15 individual households, and residential workshops
- Comanesti (RO): attic insulation in 30 households, and residential workshops
- Varga (HU): rotating fund for purchasing firewood, community wood stove upgrades in 4 households, community storage and drying facility for firewood, and residential workshops
- All locations: awareness raising workshops and forums.
- In Romania, the monitored firewood consumption after attic insulation dropped by 28%, demonstrating significant energy and cost savings. Heat columns and window and door replacements carried out in Hungary delivered approximately 20-30% reduction in energy use.
