Biomass will play a key role in future European energy

Biomass is the only renewable and cheap source of energy available, European countries must ensure the sustainability of their sources.                                                                                                              ------- Philip Lowe

Philip Lowe is the former Director-General of the European Commission competition (2002-2010) and energy (2010-2014 years). Since 2013, he is the non executive director of the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) for the antitrust division. This article is purely personal, and his comments do not represent the European Commission or the British CMA.

European Union member countries have made great progress in the Fierce competition of low-carbon economy. However, they also have to face the third key energy challenges for the further development of the low-cost and low-carbon energy structure: supply security.

We all know that the long-term viable energy structure of the European Union must include reducing the use of coal. But no other power system can provide reliable on demand power as it does. The role of renewable energy, such as wind energy and solar energy, has become increasingly prominent. But their intermittency means they can't be a reliable, low carbon substitute for fossil fuels alone.

We need strong renewable energy to help transition to a low carbon economy. Without them, we would never break our dependence on coal and oil.

Renewable, but unreliable, is a false economy

Sustainable biomass is the only renewable and cheap source of energy, which is available for baseload and elastic power currently. It can run quickly and continuously to fill an unexpected supply gap. Thus, it supplies a stable platform that can support intermittent renewable technologies and help to fill the space for the outgoing fossil fuel.
Of course, biomass is not a "silver bullet" (a solution to extreme efficiency). It can stop us from developing other renewable sources of energy when investing in it. However, biomass is a necessary addition to the structure of a diversified low-carbon hybrid energy, get into the power grid with gas, wind, solar, and other energy.

Germany is often seen as a benchmark for how to transit to clean economy, but it still relies on new coal-fired power plants, in order to meet the demand of baseload only. The country has a 25% share of clean energy in its energy mix, at the same time, however, coal now accounts for 45% of all electricity generation, and this number is still rising. The environment ministry has warned Germany that it may miss its 2020 target that achieving a 40% reduction in emissions by 1990 levels. If it continues, the gap will be between 5% and 8%.

In response, Sigmar Gabriel, the German energy minister, proposed a cap system for coal-fired power plants. Many old power stations may be eliminated. Biomass provides an opportunity for the transformation of some power plants, to meet baseload gap, and also to achieve the economic benefits of emission reduction. By retrofitting existing plants, generators can cut land, new power grid connections, planning permits, and other costs.

Sweden has succeeded. Today, biomass energy is the largest source of overall energy portfolio, accounting for 1/3 of Sweden's energy consumption. Since 1990, Sweden's economy grew by more than 50% in real terms, at the same time, geenhouse gas emissions have fallen by 23%. The main factor of economic growth disconnecting with the emission is the steady increase in the use of bioenergy in all sectors of Sweden.

Effects of forestry biomass

The latest scientific analysis shows that, use of sustainable forestry and biomass energy can achieve a definite carbon benefit. Like the British Drax project, directly used as a substitute for coal, sustainable biomass has achieved carbon emission reductions of more than 80%, indicating that the disconnection of renewable baseload can be avoided.
Critically, forest biomass is a sustainable source. The European Commission issued standards recommendations for sustainable development, some member states have enacted binding laws, to ensure high standards of forestry in places where biomass is used as a source of energy. These supply the United States and Canada's forestry protection laws, including the clean air act, the Endangered Species Act, the Lacey Act, and a series of state and provincial regulations.

The European Commission fears that if the import needed (about 150-200 metric tons of wood particle per unit) for coal conversion comes from North America, it could disrupt competition in the low-grade timber market. However, the growing size and capacity of the global forests mean that the development of biomass in Europe does not harm prices nor harm forestry.

In 2012 alone, forest reserves increased by 120 million cubic metres, according to data from the US Department of agriculture. As a result, supply can meet demand without damaging competition. Moreover, Robert Bonnie, Deputy Secretary for natural resources and environment of the United States Department of agriculture, says that if the United States continues to restore forests, then a dynamic and biomass based demand industry is critical.

Learn German experience

We need investors and policy makers to learn German experiences, Germany has achieved the targets for renewable energy, but to learn their lessons, they are looking for affordable baseload power. In fact, biomass is the answer they're looking for - renewable, reliable, on-demand and cost effective.

The European climate friendly energy structure will certainly be the use of more natural gas and less coal. However, greater utilization of biomass energy will contribute to the development of renewable energy sources at a higher level in Europe and reduce the import of fossil fuels.

We need a balanced energy structure, biomass plays a key role in helping EU member countries to achieve carbon emission reduction benefits and to protect Europe's energy future.