By Abdullahi Lukman
Biomass plays an essential role in Europe’s renewable energy landscape, yet climate strategies often overlook its importance, a new study from Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden reveals.
Biomass, the EU’s largest renewable energy source, is integral not only for reducing greenhouse gas emissions but also for producing fossil-free fuels and chemicals and enabling carbon dioxide removal from the atmosphere.
Excluding biomass from Europe’s energy system could lead to an additional cost of €169 billion per year, a financial burden similar to excluding wind power, the study warns.
The study, published in Nature Energy, outlines the significant role biomass plays in various sectors, including power generation, industrial processes, and transportation.
Biomass, which includes materials like energy crops, logging residues, and wood waste, can replace fossil fuels in industries such as steel, cement, and power plants.
It also offers a vital alternative to oil and gas in the production of plastics, chemicals, and vehicle fuels.
One of the study’s key findings is biomass’s ability to support carbon dioxide removal (CDR) when combined with carbon capture and storage (CCS).
Biomass absorbs carbon during plant photosynthesis, and when used in conjunction with CCS, it provides negative emissions by capturing and storing CO2 rather than releasing it back into the atmosphere.
This technology is critical for meeting the EU’s climate targets, which include not just reducing emissions but also removing CO2 from the air.
Markus Millinger, lead author of the study, noted the unexpectedly high cost of reducing biomass availability. “If biomass is completely excluded from the system, the cost of achieving negative emissions would rise by €169 billion annually, a 20% increase.
This is equivalent to excluding wind power,” Millinger explained. However, limiting biomass availability to current levels would increase costs by only 5%.
Despite the financial implications, the study highlights that the real challenge lies in scaling up alternative energy sources.
Without sufficient biomass, the energy transition would require even larger investments in other fossil-free energy options.
Furthermore, the opportunity for negative emissions provided by biomass would be lost, requiring a massive scale-up of more expensive direct air capture technologies.
The study stresses that biomass’s value lies in its carbon content rather than its energy production capabilities.
Biomass can provide both energy and negative emissions, but the key is to capture the carbon for long-term storage or reuse.
This ability to produce carbon-neutral energy while enabling CO2 removal makes biomass crucial to the EU’s climate strategy.
The findings offer valuable insights for policymakers, especially as Europe grapples with balancing renewable energy resources and sustainability concerns.
While bioenergy plays a vital role, concerns over food prices, deforestation, and biodiversity loss have led to regulatory limitations.
The study calls for policy instruments that incentivize sustainable land use and foster efficient biomass production while minimizing negative environmental impacts.
Co-author Göran Berndes, a professor at Chalmers, emphasized the importance of developing regulatory frameworks that steer biomass production in an environmentally responsible direction.
“With the increasing pressure on forests and agricultural land due to the climate transition, it is vital that policies reward landowners for sustainable practices that reduce environmental harm.”
The study provides critical data to guide the EU’s energy policies and climate strategies, underscoring the importance of biomass in achieving the region’s climate goals.
