Chalmers University researchers say model shows biomass key for future EU energy policy

In Sweden, researchers at Chalmers University have used an advanced model that includes more technologies and a higher level of detail than previous similar studies. The model also shows how all society sectors affect each other within the energy system. The new study thus provides an expanded knowledge base for policy development – not least linked to biomass and technologies for negative emissions.

“The capture and storage or reuse of carbon dioxide, for example through the production of advanced fuels, is dependent on large investments to get started, and long-term sustainable and reliable value chains need to be built. A market for fossil-free carbon dioxide would significantly strengthen the opportunities for such investments compared to today, when it is primarily the energy that is valued. But this requires that decision-makers create stable policy instruments to realise the great value of fossil-free carbon atoms within the climate transition”, says Markus Millinger.

Technology development and policy have stimulated an increasing utilisation of bioenergy in the EU. But there are also policy instruments that limit its use in various ways, based on concerns about possible negative effects such as higher food prices, deforestation and loss of biodiversity.

“The bioenergy sector is developing in a context where agriculture and forestry are meeting increasing sustainability requirements”, says Göran Berndes, co-author of the study and Professor of Biomass and land use at Chalmers. “Given that the climate transition is expected to increase the pressure on forests and agricultural land, it is important that there are regulatory systems that lead the development in a positive direction.”

“At the same time, bioenergy systems can be designed to contribute to more efficient use of resources and mitigation of the negative environmental effects of current land use. If policy instruments are designed to reward landowners and other actors for ‘doing the right thing’, this in itself can drive development away from environmentally harmful activities”, says Göran Berndes.