The European policy on biomass should focus on R&D aspects and on ensuring markets at EU and global level function smoothly, the ministers said at a meeting of the energy Council on 8 June.
They insisted on leaving EU member states free to determine their own policy approach and to choose the sectors in which biomass and energy crops are used, whether in heating, cooling, transport biofuels or electricity generation.
They said R&D efforts at EU level should focus in particular on "second-generation biofuels, bio-refineries, efficient boiler technologies, the impact of biomass fuel emissions on air pollution and market introduction aspects." Another priority is to increase the use of biomass, including waste "in particular for cogeneration and district heating". Among other things, they invited the Commission to:
- review waste legislation to "further encourage the use of biomass and clean waste as fuel";
- "review the animal by-products legislation with a view to encouraging the use of farming and food processing by-products as a renewable energy source"
In a related development, the European Commission on 8 June launched a Biofuels Technology Platform to coordinate biofuels and biomass research and development policy. Led by industry, the platform is expected to produce a European strategy for producing biofuels that are compatible with present-day infrastructures, in particular for transport applications. A "vision paper for 2030 and beyond" was presented at the conference which will form the basis of the forthcoming strategy.
