IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/rensus/v138y2021ics1364032120309291.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Effective sustainability criteria for bioenergy: Towards the implementation of the european renewable directive II

Author

Listed:
  • Mai-Moulin, T.
  • Hoefnagels, R.
  • Grundmann, P.
  • Junginger, M.

Abstract

Sustainability criteria and verification through national legislations and voluntary certification schemes are important tools to ensure sustainable supply and bioenergy development in the European Union. The Renewable Energy Directive Recast (RED II) sets the framework for renewable energy support for the period 2021–2030 with updated and new sustainability criteria. This study reviews the sustainability criteria in the RED II and in existing national legislations and voluntary schemes. The aim is to identify possible gaps and good practices in certification to propose a set of sustainability criteria that are effective in their coverage of the most urgent sustainability concerns, and that are practically applicable to the whole bioenergy sector. The proposed set of effective sustainability criteria was validated through stakeholder interviews. The results show that the RED II is a major step forward in safeguarding sustainable bioenergy supply; however, it still entails sustainability risks in forest management and lacks clarifications and criteria for imported biomass feedstocks. The proposed effective sustainability criteria in this study are more extensive than in the RED II and help to assure sustainable land use, to protect biodiversity, and to conserve ecosystems, whilst also addressing rights for workers and local communities, and the efficient use of resources. These criteria are already implemented in some comprehensive and stringent national support schemes and voluntary schemes. It is recommended that policy makers, scheme owners and sustainability practitioners coordinate discussions and agreements on the various sustainability aspects. A clear definition of waste and residues, measurement of indirect land use change, and recognition of competent voluntary schemes to demonstrate sustainability compliance should be considered at EU level.

Suggested Citation

  • Mai-Moulin, T. & Hoefnagels, R. & Grundmann, P. & Junginger, M., 2021. "Effective sustainability criteria for bioenergy: Towards the implementation of the european renewable directive II," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:138:y:2021:i:c:s1364032120309291
    DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2020.110645
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364032120309291
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.rser.2020.110645?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Rafiaani, Parisa & Kuppens, Tom & Dael, Miet Van & Azadi, Hossein & Lebailly, Philippe & Passel, Steven Van, 2018. "Social sustainability assessments in the biobased economy: Towards a systemic approach," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 82(P2), pages 1839-1853.
    2. Stefan Majer & Simone Wurster & David Moosmann & Luana Ladu & Beike Sumfleth & Daniela Thrän, 2018. "Gaps and Research Demand for Sustainability Certification and Standardisation in a Sustainable Bio-Based Economy in the EU," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-44, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Lund, Henrik & Skov, Iva Ridjan & Thellufsen, Jakob Zinck & Sorknæs, Peter & Korberg, Andrei David & Chang, Miguel & Mathiesen, Brian Vad & Kany, Mikkel Strunge, 2022. "The role of sustainable bioenergy in a fully decarbonised society," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 196(C), pages 195-203.
    2. Behroozeh, Samira & Hayati, Dariush & Karami, Ezatollah, 2022. "Determining and validating criteria to measure energy consumption sustainability in agricultural greenhouses," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 185(C).
    3. Montalvo-Navarrete, Juan M. & Lasso-Palacios, Ana P., 2024. "Energy access sustainability criteria definition for Colombian rural areas," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 189(PA).
    4. Welfle, Andrew & Röder, Mirjam, 2022. "Mapping the sustainability of bioenergy to maximise benefits, mitigate risks and drive progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 191(C), pages 493-509.
    5. Grzegorz Borówka & Grzegorz Semerjak & Wojciech Krasodomski & Jan Lubowicz, 2023. "Purified Glycerine from Biodiesel Production as Biomass or Waste-Based Green Raw Material for the Production of Biochemicals," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(13), pages 1-12, June.
    6. Stubenrauch, Jessica & Garske, Beatrice, 2023. "Forest protection in the EU's renewable energy directive and nature conservation legislation in light of the climate and biodiversity crisis – Identifying legal shortcomings and solutions," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    7. Daniele Duca & Giuseppe Toscano, 2022. "Biomass Energy Resources: Feedstock Quality and Bioenergy Sustainability," Resources, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-6, June.
    8. Elnaz Nasiri & Lisandra Rocha-Meneses & Abrar Inayat & Timo Kikas, 2022. "Impact of Policy Instruments in the Implementation of Renewable Sources of Energy in Selected European Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-33, May.
    9. Zetterholm, Jonas & Mossberg, Johanna & Jafri, Yawer & Wetterlund, Elisabeth, 2022. "We need stable, long-term policy support! — Evaluating the economic rationale behind the prevalent investor lament for forest-based biofuel production," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 318(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kathleen Meisel & Markus Millinger & Karin Naumann & Franziska Müller-Langer & Stefan Majer & Daniela Thrän, 2020. "Future Renewable Fuel Mixes in Transport in Germany under RED II and Climate Protection Targets," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-18, April.
    2. Hannah Karlewski & Annekatrin Lehmann & Klaus Ruhland & Matthias Finkbeiner, 2019. "A Practical Approach for Social Life Cycle Assessment in the Automotive Industry," Resources, MDPI, vol. 8(3), pages 1-60, August.
    3. Elvira Tarsitano & Simona Giordano & Gianluigi de Gennaro & Annalisa Turi & Giovanni Ronco & Lucia Parchitelli, 2023. "Participatory Planning for the Drafting of a Regional Law on the Bioeconomy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-16, April.
    4. Malte Jütting, 2020. "Exploring Mission-Oriented Innovation Ecosystems for Sustainability: Towards a Literature-Based Typology," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(16), pages 1-28, August.
    5. Nils Thonemann & Anna Schulte & Daniel Maga, 2020. "How to Conduct Prospective Life Cycle Assessment for Emerging Technologies? A Systematic Review and Methodological Guidance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-23, February.
    6. Flávio Mattos & João Luiz Calmon, 2023. "Social Life Cycle Assessment in Municipal Solid Waste Management Systems with Contribution of Waste Pickers: Literature Review and Proposals for New Studies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-18, January.
    7. Manuel Raul Pelaez-Samaniego & Juan L. Espinoza & José Jara-Alvear & Pablo Arias-Reyes & Fernando Maldonado-Arias & Patricia Recalde-Galindo & Pablo Rosero & Tsai Garcia-Perez, 2020. "Potential and Impacts of Cogeneration in Tropical Climate Countries: Ecuador as a Case Study," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(20), pages 1-26, October.
    8. Alberto Bezama & Carlo Ingrao & Sinéad O’Keeffe & Daniela Thrän, 2019. "Resources, Collaborators, and Neighbors: The Three-Pronged Challenge in the Implementation of Bioeconomy Regions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(24), pages 1-18, December.
    9. René Lindner & Carmen Jaca & Josune Hernantes, 2021. "A Good Practice for Integrating Stakeholders through Standardization—The Case of the Smart Mature Resilience Project," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-19, August.
    10. Parisa Rafiaani & Zoumpolia Dikopoulou & Miet Dael & Tom Kuppens & Hossein Azadi & Philippe Lebailly & Steven Passel, 2020. "Identifying Social Indicators for Sustainability Assessment of CCU Technologies: A Modified Multi-criteria Decision Making," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 147(1), pages 15-44, January.
    11. Viktor Shestak & Viktor Konstantinov & Vladislav Govorov & Evgenia Budko & Oleg Volodin, 2022. "Harmonization of Russian supply chain management standards with EU requirements," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 14(4), pages 759-777, August.
    12. Berend Barkela & Kristen Werling & Signe Elisa Filler & Lea Marie Heidbreder, 2021. "Fasting Plastic—The Role of Media Reports in a ‘Window of Opportunity’ to Reduce Plastic Consumption," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-15, October.
    13. Leonardo Marcelino & Jesper Sjöström & Carlos Alberto Marques, 2019. "Socio-Problematization of Green Chemistry: Enriching Systems Thinking and Social Sustainability by Education," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(24), pages 1-16, December.
    14. Josephin Helka & Julia Ostrowski & Mohammad Abdel-Razek & Peter Hawighorst & Jan Henke & Stefan Majer & Daniela Thrän, 2020. "Combining Environmental Footprint Models, Remote Sensing Data, and Certification Data towards an Integrated Sustainability Risk Analysis for Certification in the Case of Palm Oil," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-24, October.
    15. Alexandra Lavers Westin & Yuliya Kalmykova & Leonardo Rosado, 2019. "Method for Quantitative Evaluation of Sustainability Measures: A Systems Approach for Policy Prioritization," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-19, January.
    16. Gustavo Bustamante & Biagio Fernando Giannetti & Feni Agostinho & Gengyuan Liu & Cecília M. V. B. Almeida, 2022. "Prioritizing Cleaner Production Actions towards Circularity: Combining LCA and Emergy in the PET Production Chain," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-15, June.
    17. Pasquale Marcello Falcone & Enrica Imbert, 2018. "Social Life Cycle Approach as a Tool for Promoting the Market Uptake of Bio-Based Products from a Consumer Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-22, March.
    18. de Souza, Lorena Mendes & Mendes, Pietro A.S. & Aranda, Donato A.G., 2018. "Assessing the current scenario of the Brazilian biojet market," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 426-438.
    19. Eleonora Cardillo & Maria Cristina Longo, 2020. "Managerial Reporting Tools for Social Sustainability: Insights from a Local Government Experience," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-23, May.
    20. D'Adamo, Idiano & Falcone, Pasquale Marcello & Morone, Piergiuseppe, 2020. "A New Socio-economic Indicator to Measure the Performance of Bioeconomy Sectors in Europe," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:138:y:2021:i:c:s1364032120309291. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/600126/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.