Relevant regulations and instruments in the EU
The following policies at EU or Member State level could have a potential impact on imported biomass/bioenergy to the EU. Distinction is made between EU level initiatives and Member States' initiatives. More detailed information about these policies can be found in the on-line policy database developed within the frame of the sister projects S2Biom, Biomass Policies and BioTrade2020+: https://s2biom.vito.be/policies-s2biom (select the relevant region & country).
EU Level:
| Country/ region | Short name | Sector/field | Relevance for Biomass Trade* |
| EU | Renewable Energy Directive (RED) Dir. 2009/28/EC | Energy, Biofuels | Renewable energy targets by MS => THE driver for renewable energy promotion in the MS. Sustainability criteria for biofuels & bioliquids (GHG, land use). Essential in traded volumes to fulfil these sustainability criteria. Can be demonstrated through
Joint projects between Member States and 3rd countries Double counting of advanced biofuels (incl. lignocellulose based) provides an extra incentive for wood-based biofuels. Biannual reporting requirement on the impact of biofuel demand. |
| EU | iLUC Directive (EU)2015/1513 | Biofuels | Cap on land-based biofuels (including energy crops) Indicative MS target for advanced biofuels for transport (including wood based) iLUC accounting |
| EU | Fuel Quality Directive (FQD) Dir. 2009/30/EC | Biofuels | GHG reduction for transport fuels (important role for biofuels) Sustainability criteria for biofuels (see RED) |
| EU | Emission Trading System (ETS) Dir. 2009/29/EC | Energy, Transport (aviation), Climate | EU ETS covers more than 11,000 power stations and industrial plants in 31 countries, as well as airlines. The aim is to reduce GHG emissions through Emission Allowances. |
| EU | Energy Taxation Directive Dir. 2003/96/EC | Energy; Biofuels | Energy taxation can differ in relation to the environmental performance of energy carriers. |
| EU | Sustainability criteria for solid and gaseous biomass COM(2010)11 | Energy | Recommendations for MS that wish to implement sustainability criteria for solid and gaseous biomass. Criteria focus on greenhouse gas (GHG) requirements and land use. For the moment no binding requirements on EU level. |
| EU | Sustainable Biomass Partnership | Energy | Initiative of large biomass importers to fulfil sustainability requirements of several Member States (e.g. BE, NL, UK) and to anticipate EU level requirements: verification framework to provide assurance that woody biomass for energy is sourced from legal and sustainable sources. |
| EU | EU Timber Regulation (EU-TR) Reg. 995/2010 | Forestry ; trade | Obligations (on traceability and legality) of operators who place timber and timber products on the market to counter trade in illegally harvested timber and timber products. |
| EU | FLEGT (Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade) Reg. 2173/2005 | Forestry; Trade | Voluntary Partnership Agreement between EU and wood producing countries (bilateral). Licensing scheme for imports of certified legal wood into the European Community. |
| EU | LULUCF (land use, land-use change and forestry) Dec. 529/2013/EU | Forestry; Climate | Accounting rules applicable to emissions and removals of greenhouse gases resulting from land use, land- use change and forestry |
| EU | REDD+ (reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, …) | Forestry; Climate | Financial support to developing countries which demonstrate reduced emissions from forests at a national level. |
| EU | Plant Health Directive Dir. 2000/29/EC | Agriculture; Forestry; Trade | Protective measures against the introduction into the Community of organisms harmful to plants or plant products and against their spread within the Community. Also specific requirements on wood products. Depending on the origin and type, heat treatment, bark stripping and/or drying is required. |
| EU | Green Public Procurement COM(2008)400 | Economy | Public authorities seek to procure goods, services and works with a reduced environmental impact throughout their life cycle. May include reference to sustainable forest management for wood. |
| EU | EN ISO 17225 / CEN/TC335 (Solid biofuels) | Energy; Product | Specifications for solid biofuels (pellets, logs, chips, …) |
| EU | ENplus certification | Energy; Product | Certification of pellet producers (pellet quality – value chain) |
| EU | Common customs tariff (CCT) | Taxation; Trade | Common Customs Tariff' (CCT) applies to the import of goods across the external borders of the EU. |
| EU | Trade Defence Measures Reg. 597/2009 & Reg. 1225/2009 | Taxation; Trade | Anti-dumping measures, anti-subsidy measures or safeguards when EU industry is harmed by dumped or subsided imports. Applied for biodiesel (US, Argentina, Indonesia), bio-ethanol (US) and plywood (China) |
| Global | FSC | Forestry | Certification system for sustainable forest management |
| Global | PEFC | Forestry | Certification system for sustainable forest management – endorcement of national schemes. |
* limited to lignocellulosic energy carriers
EU Member States level:
| Country/ region | Short name | Sector/field | Relevance for Biomass Trade |
| Austria | Green electricity act (ÖSG) / Green electricity feed-in tariff regulation (ÖSET) | Energy | Biomass plants need to reach an efficiency of at least 60% (CHP focus). This means there is less focus on large scale plants. Feed-in tariff depends on plant type, biomass used and overall efficiency. |
| Belgium - Flanders | Green Power Certificates | Energy | Energy for pretreatment, transport (up to BE border) and on-site energy use has to be subtracted from produced MWh for the calculation for green power certificates. Green power certificates are only provided if the wood resources cannot be used by the wood or paper industry. Reporting needed on biomass sourcing. System of biomass certificates (not for small installations using own or local biomass) Support for large scale biomass installations (>20 MW) limited to three existing initiatives. |
| Belgium - Brussels | Brussels Green Certificates | Energy | Amount of certificates depends on the amount of CO2 saved compared to the best available technologies. Sustainability criteria of liquid and solid biomass (RED land use criteria). |
| Belgium - Walloon | Green Certificates | Energy | Amount of certificates depends on the amount of CO2 saved compared to the best available technologies (STAG (55% eff) for electricity; NG boiler (90% eff) for heat). |
| Belgium | Minimum requirements for wood pellets non-industrial heating installations | Energy, Product | Pellets should come from sustainable forest management (FSC, PEFC or equivalent). |
| Bulgaria | ERSA - Feed-in tariff | Energy | Feed-in tariff differentiated on the basis of type of technology and type of fuel. Forestry biomass not included. |
| Croatia | Feed-in tariff | Energy | Feed-in tariff differentiated by size of the installation and efficiency (>2MW and <45% has lowest support). Less interest in large scale (internationally focused) plants. |
| Czech Republic | Act on Promoted Energy Sources | Energy | Feed-in tariff for plants up to 100kW, CHP requirement. Less interest in large scale (internationally focused) plants. |
| Denmark | Law on the Promotion of Renewable Energy | Energy | The biomass agreement of 1993 forced central power stations to use biomass. Eligible for a feed-in tariff of 50€/MWh for a 10-year period. |
| Denmark | Danish Industry Agreement for Sustainable Biomass | Energy | voluntary industry approach to ensure the sustainable use of solid biomass in CHP plants (wood pellets and wood chips) in Denmark |
| Estonia | Electricity Market Act | Energy | Feed-in tariff. The electricity must be generated by high-efficiency CHP plants. Electricity generated by conventional thermal power stations is not eligible. |
| Finland | Act on Production subsidies for renewable electricity | Energy | Premium tariff. Increased ‘heat bonus' (20€/MWh) if both electricity and usable heat is produced, installation between 100kW and 8MW, minimum efficiency of 50% (even 75% if capacity >1MW). |
| Finland | Biofuel for Transport Obligation | Transport | High target of 20% renewable energy in transport by 2020. High reliance on advanced biofuels, mostly focused at residues from the wood and paper/pulp sector. |
| France | Feed-in tariff | Energy | Biomass only plants are eligible if < 12 MW installed capacity; CHP plants supported if <2MW. Less interest in large scale (internationally focused) plants. |
| Germany | Biofuel Quota Act | Transport | The quota requirement is recently changed from an energy requirement to a GHG requirement. This may give an extra incentive for advanced biofuels. |
| Germany | Renewable energy sources act (EEG) | Energy | Feed-in tariff. Maximum capacity of 500 kW; obligation to keep a record of biomass substances. |
| Greece | Feed-in tariff | Energy | Feed-in tariff depends on capacity; max capacity 15MW. |
| Ireland | Renewable Energy Feed-in Tariff - REFIT | Energy | Feed-in tariff depends on CHP (below and above 1.5 MW), energy crops or other biomass. No capacity constraints. |
| Italy | Auction system for large RES-E plants (>5MW) | Energy | Annual cap on the total new build dedicated biomass capacity. Incentives range between € 122 and € 145 per MWh. Biomass plants can also benefit of additional amounts depending on the material used and environmental impact. |
| Italy | Feed-in tariff order | Energy | Feed-in tariff for small-scale RES-E plants (less than 5 MW). The tariff is differentiated according to plant size, typology of input fuel (agricultural and forestry by-products, dedicated crops, organic fraction of wastes), option of high quality cogeneration, use of district heating, air emission levels, sustainability of the biomass supply chain. |
| Luxembourg | Renewable electricity regulation | Energy | Feed-in tariff limited to 10 MW. |
| Netherlands | SDE+ premium feed-in scheme | Energy | Distinction <10 MW and 10 – 100 MW. If co-firing, biomass fraction should be at least 6% of capacity. Recent Energy Agreement: cap on cofiring of 25PJ; Sustainability criteria for solid biomass (co-firing & >10MW dedicated): sustainable forest management, avoid carbon debt, iLUC (LIIB), GHG reduction (60%) |
| Poland | Energy Law | Energy | Quota obligation with certificate trading. Cofiring (>5MW) & dedicated biomass installations (>20MW): minimum % of agricultural and waste biomass to reduce dependency on woody biomass. |
| Portugal | Feed-in tariff | Energy | The FiT regime continues to apply only to existing installations. |
| Romania | Quota & tradable green certificates | Energy | Operators of biomass plants eligible for green certificates need to present certificates of origin for the biomass used. |
| Slovakia | Feed-in tariff | Energy | Feed-in tariff for plants <125 MW; surcharge (bonus) only for installations <5MW. |
| Slovenia | Decree on Renewable Electricity support | Energy | Feed-in tariffs and premium tariffs, differentiated in terms of both technology and size. Bonus in case of certified sustainable forest management and in case of CHP. |
| Spain | Decrees on Renewable electricity | Energy | Currently suspended |
| Sweden | Electricity Certificates Act | Energy | One certificate is issued for every MWh of electricity produced, regardless of the generation technology employed. |
| Sweden | Energy and CO2-tax | Energy, taxation | Energy and CO2 taxes are levied on the supply, import and generation of fossil fuels for heating purposes. Renewable energy sources are exempt from these taxes. Biomass is eligible if certified with sustainability certification. |
| UK | Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme / Renewables Obligation | Energy | CFD strike prices (GBP/MWh), for biomass conversion and dedicated biomass installations (with CHP). Until 2017 choice between RO scheme and the new Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme. For plants above 5 MW. Plants between 50 kW - 5 MW are entitled to choose between the ROC scheme and the FIT. Monthly reporting on sustainability criteria if >50 kW For plants above 1 MW: GHG criteria, land criteria (non-wood), timber criteria (wood) |
| UK | Non-Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive | Energy | Fixed amount per kWth, capacity related. GHG emission target (60% savings), land criteria (non-wood), timber criteria (wood). ‘Self suppliers' (<1MWth and sourcing fuel within 50 miles) don't need to show compliance with the sustainability criteria. Traders of woodfuel need to register on the BSL list. |