Increasing policy coherence between bioenergy and clean air policies and measures

Client

European Commission (DG Environment)

Focus

The project was structured around three key tasks. The background analysis assessed the evidence, existing regulation and the trade-offs between different policies associated with bioenergy use and its impacts (for this project, bioenergy excluded road fuels and so was mainly restricted to biomass combustion). Following this, an analysis of available measures and solutions to reduce air quality impacts based on best practices at national, regional or local level in Member States was conducted. Finally, an analysis of how best to use the existing and planned policy frameworks to reduce these trade-offs whilst supporting EU clean air policy objectives was undertaken.

Purpose of Project

There is a clear need to reduce European reliance on fossil fuels, especially natural gas, for space heating and power. Bioenergy is a significant proportion of the EU’s energy mix; however, it risks increased pollutant emissions with impacts for health and air quality. This problem is not new, as trade-offs in the policy space is not new. This project helps develop a path towards increasing the policy coherence between bioenergy use and the existing potential solutions.

What we delivered

• Legislative and scientific review covering air quality concerns on environment and health and its associated impacts

• A two-tiered approach to stakeholder outreach including representatives at the European or supra-national level as well as with key representatives implementing the measures identified.

• A toolbox aimed at supporting the development of further measures and actions. This is developed through the finding of novel measures identified through key stakeholder outreach. The objective of the toolbox is to introduce a more systematic way of designing and implementing measures to support impact evaluation, and ensure measures are targeted in a cost-effective way.

The published report, summary report and database of measures are available here: https://environment.ec.europa.eu/topics/air/air-pollution-key-sectors_en

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