{"id":77252,"date":"2019-03-14T13:32:37","date_gmt":"2019-03-14T13:32:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tin.happy-projects.ro\/wood-pellets-danger-losing-classification-renewable-energy-following-lawsuit-eu\/"},"modified":"2025-09-19T08:50:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-19T08:50:08","slug":"wood-pellets-danger-losing-classification-renewable-energy-following-lawsuit-eu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.timberindustrynews.com\/ro\/wood-pellets-danger-losing-classification-renewable-energy-following-lawsuit-eu\/","title":{"rendered":"Wood pellets in danger of losing classification as renewable energy, following lawsuit against EU"},"content":{"rendered":"

A\u00a0group of plaintiffs from Estonia, France, Ireland, Romania, Slovakia, Sweden, and the US are filing a lawsuit against the European Union on Monday (4 March) to challenge the inclusion of forest biomass in the bloc\u2019s renewable energy directive.\u00a0If the case is won, wood biomass will no longer be counted in the EU\u2019s 2030 target for renewables.<\/em><\/p>\n

If they get their way, this could deprive the EU of an energy source which currently makes up close to 60% of the bloc\u2019s renewables, more than solar and wind power combined.<\/span><\/p>\n

The\u00a0precedent-setting case was filed with the EU court in Luxembourg on\u00a0 the 4th of March by a group of affected individuals and non-governmental organisations (NGOs).<\/p>\n

The group argues that EU institutions have failed to\u00a0take account of scientific evidence showing that forest biomass harvesting and combustion for energy purposes exacerbates climate change by causing deforestation outside of Europe.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe treatment of biomass as carbon neutral runs counter to scientific findings\u201d showing that burning wood for energy typically emits 1.5 times more CO2 than coal and 3 times more than natural gas, the plaintiffs point out.<\/p>\n

The European Commission declined to comment at this stage, saying it was up to the EU Court of Justice in Luxembourg to decide on \u201cthe admissibility\u201d of the case.<\/p>\n

Last year, the EU adopted an updated version of its renewable energy directive,\u00a0committing the bloc to source at least 32% of its energy from renewables by 2030. The target is considered a central element of the EU\u2019s goal to cut carbon emissions by 40% by the same date.<\/p>\n

But the plaintiffs contend that including forest biomass as a source of renewable energy runs counter to\u00a0Article 191(1) of the EU treaty, which stipulates that the bloc\u2019s environment policy shall contribute to: \u201cpreserving, protecting and improving the quality of the environment\u2026and in particular combating climate change\u201d.<\/p>\n

According to them, the directive worsens climate change\u00a0by exacerbating forest cutting in the US to meet the growing demand for wood pellet fuel in the EU.<\/p>\n

Plaintiffs have experienced harms to their health, livelihoods, communities and cultural traditions as a result of logging, wood pellet manufacturing, and production of biomass energy, the case argues.<\/p>\n

60% of Europe\u2019s renewables<\/strong><\/p>\n

The European Commission estimates that biomass currently represents\u00a0almost 60% of renewable energy consumption in the EU. Bioenergy consumption in Europe increased by more than 69% in 2005-2016, and this is expected to continue growing in the next decades, according to the EU executive.<\/p>\n

If plaintiffs win the case, forest biomass will no longer be counted in the EU\u2019s 2030 target for renewables, leaving wind and solar power to do all the heavy-lifting.\u00a0As a knock-on effect, it would also likely lead to calls from within Europe to revise the target downwards, something the plaintiffs said was not their objective.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re certainly not saying the 32% renewable energy target should be reduced,\u201d said\u00a0Peter Lockley, legal counsel for the plaintiffs. Rather, he said, the objective was to ensure the EU succeeds in meeting its Paris Agreement goal of cutting carbon\u00a0emissions by 40% come 2030.<\/p>\n

The renewable energy directive\u00a0was agreed last year despite warnings from a group of more than 800 scientists, who said\u00a0that deliberately harvesting wood for burning \u201cwill increase carbon in the atmosphere and warming for decades to centuries \u2013 even when wood replaces coal, oil or natural gas.\u201d<\/p>\n

Because trees take time to regrow, harvesting them for energy use increases the world\u2019s \u201ccarbon debt\u201d for decades if not centuries,\u00a0according to a research paper published in scientific journal Nature in September. Wood \u201ctypically emits 1.5x the CO2\u00a0of coal and 3x the CO2\u00a0of natural gas because of wood\u2019s carbon bonds, water content\u00a0and lower burning temperature,\u201d they wrote.<\/p>\n

Other\u00a0scientists are less alarmist, saying that in order to contribute to the fight against climate change, bioenergy fuels \u201cneed to be able to meet strict greenhouse emissions thresholds compared to fossil fuels to ensure that tangible carbon reduction is achieved.\u201d<\/p>\n

The European Commission has pointed to \u201csafeguards\u201d in the renewable energy directive to ensure biomass consumed in Europe only comes from sustainably managed forests. The directive also mandates biomass to emit at least 80% fewer greenhouse gases than fossil fuels, EU officials have pointed out.<\/p>\n

Source:\u00a0EURACTIV<\/a><\/strong><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A\u00a0group of plaintiffs from Estonia, France, Ireland, Romania, Slovakia, Sweden, and the US are filing a lawsuit against the European Union on Monday (4 March) to challenge the inclusion of forest biomass in the bloc\u2019s renewable energy directive.\u00a0If the case … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":59393,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4716,4715],"tags":[3291,3300,3283],"class_list":["post-77252","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-trends","category-market-analysis","tag-eu","tag-renewable-energy","tag-wood-pellets","topic-wood-energy","area-europe"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWood pellets in danger of losing classification as renewable energy, following lawsuit against EU - Timber Industry News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.timberindustrynews.com\/ro\/wood-pellets-danger-losing-classification-renewable-energy-following-lawsuit-eu\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"ro_RO\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Wood pellets in danger of losing classification as renewable energy, following lawsuit against EU - 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