According to an analysis of national energy and climate plans (NECPs) published on Tuesday 13 April by the NGO Fern, EU Member States expect to increase their reliance on bioenergy over the next ten years. This is a worrying prospect for the NGO, which says that the NECPs generally do not explain how and where countries will obtain this biomass or what impact it will have on the climate, air pollution or biodiversity.
Conducted by Trinomics on behalf of Fern, the study indicates that Member States expect an overall increase in the use of biomass for electricity generation (+18%) and for heating (+10%).
Among the countries that expect a very large increase in the use of biomass for electricity by 2030, the study singles out Spain (+110%), Lithuania (+100%) and Slovenia (+170%).
Other countries foresee a significant increase in the use of biomass for heating by 2030: Ireland (+72.6%), Bulgaria (+36%), Poland (+30%) or the Czech Republic (+27%).
However, the vast majority of Member States do not provide sufficient information on the negative effects that increased wood burning could have on the ability of forests to capture carbon dioxide (CO2), the study points out.
These figures are also likely to be underestimates, as they do not take into account the increase in the EU’s climate target for 2030, the authors say.
See the study: https://bit.ly/3mKpgtW (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)