The brief, published by the European Commission’s Knowledge Centre for Bioeconomy, synthesises and summarises the latest available data on bioenergy in the EU. It shows how bioenergy not only contributes to renewable energy but also to the EU’s energy security, as 96% of bioenergy feedstock is produced within the EU. Most of this comes from forestry.

In November 2016, the European Commission launched the Clean Energy package, including a recast of the Directive on the promotion of renewable energy sources (‘RES Directive’), with the objective of greatly increasing the share of RES in final energy consumption by 2030. The revised RES Directive aims to provide guiding principles on financial support schemes for RES, renewable energy self-consumption, energy communities and district heating. It seeks to enhance mechanisms for cross-border cooperation, simplify administrative processes, strengthen the sustainability and greenhouse gas emissions-savings criteria for biofuels, and mainstream the use of RES in the transport sector and in the heating and cooling sector. Trilogue negotiations started in February 2018 and resulted in a provisional agreement on 14 June 2018. The final text was formally adopted by Parliament (13 November 2018) and Council (4 December 2018), published in the Official Journal on 21 December 2018 and entered into force three days later. Fifth edition. The ‘EU Legislation in Progress’ briefings are updated at key stages throughout the legislative procedure. Please note this document has been designed for online viewing.

Biomass is organic material that comes from plants and animals. It is the basis of the bioeconomy, which “comprises those parts of the economy that use renewable biological resources from land and sea – such as crops, forests, fish, animals and micro-organisms – to produce food, materials and energy”*.

Perennial biomass crops (PBC) are considered a crucial feedstock for sustainable biomass supply to the bioeconomy that compete less with food production compared to traditional crops. However, large‐scale development of PBC as a means to reach greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation targets would require not only the production on land previously not used for agriculture, but also the use of land that is currently used for agricultural production.

The EU aims to achieve a variety of ambitious climate change mitigation and sustainable development goals by 2030. To deliver on this aim, the European Commission (EC) launched the bioeconomy strategy in 2012. At the heart of this policy is the concept of the sustainable Biorefinery, which is based centrally on a cost-effective conversion of lignocellulosic biomass into bioenergy and bioproducts. The first generation of biorefineries was based on utilization of edible food crops, which raised a “food vs. fuel” debate and questionable sustainability issues.

European Union adopted a Directive that establishes a common framework for the promotion of energy from renewable sources. It sets a binding Union target for the overall share of energy from renewable sources in the Union’s gross final consumption of energy in 2030. It also lays down rules on financial support for electricity from renewable sources, on self-consumption of such electricity, on the use of energy from renewable sources in the heating and cooling sector and in the transport sector, on regional cooperation between Member States, and between Member States and third countries, on guarantees of origin, on administrative procedures and on information and training. It also establishes sustainability and greenhouse gas emissions saving criteria for biofuels, bioliquids and biomass fuels.