Bioenergy is being prioritised over biodiversity and carbon storage in the EU climate plan

In order to preserve biodiversity and meet the European Union (EU) climate targets there is a need for agricultural land to be reduced or maintained at the current levels. How is this going to be possible when the world’s population is increasing and land degradation is occurring at an accelerating rate? - We need to feed a growing population. Is this a way of looking into other methods of technology in agriculture, such as vertical farming that uses hydroponics or aquaponics?

An article written by Nature on the 28th of November 2022 by Searchinger and other researchers highlights that the incoming EU policies will regulate the one-fifth of agricultural land that will be used for bioenergy and agricultural expansion needs to be discontinued, as wood will be harvested more by the EU.

The EU’s Climate Plan

Currently, the EU’s climate legislation has laid out a "Fit for 55" climate legislation plan which aims to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by 2030 by 55%. In order to achieve this goal, the EU plans to focus on increasing their renewable energy sources by 45% in 2030 compared to an average of 22% in 2020. 

The term bioenergy explained in the EU context

Bioenergy is one of the renewable energy sources that the EU wants to expand on, which includes sourcing energy from organic matter such as agrofuels, anaerobic digestion and wood fuel, just to name a few sources. According to the EU, bioenergy is a mixture of biofuels, biomethane and biomass which contribute to reducing greenhouse-gas emissions and assists the EU in being energy independent. According to Revolve on 21st June 2022,  the reason the EU wants to be energy independent is due to two main points: 1) to stop dependence on Russian fossil fuels and 2) to combat the climate crisis. Journalists and researchers from Nature and Le Monde, however, analyse the risks associated with increasing renewable energy sources and discarding biodiversity and carbon storage.

The key points from Nature and Le Monde on bioenergy

The viewpoint of Nature about the risks associated with fully implementing bioenergy is that the world needs to reduce “land carbon footprint” which means amounts of carbon lost from deforestation in supplying agricultural products such as wood and crops. Additionally, a growing population means that we need to have more agricultural land to feed the increased population. Statistics from Nature show that “40–60% more crops and 70% more milk and meat in 2050 is needed than in 2010”. On the other hand, Le Monde states that the solutions are double-edged when wanting to combat climate change and protecting biodiversity. The article highlights that prioritising bioenergy will fall into the risk of increasing deforestation as land will be occupied in producing biofuels and wood fuel. Timothy Searchinger also notes that, “Bioenergy will rarely reduce greenhouse-gas emissions.” The article further explains that bioenergy does not reduce greenhouse-gases efficiently as the process still involves burning the plants, which still releases carbon emissions into the atmosphere. Further, no additional carbon is being removed from the atmosphere but rather increases the current carbon emission levels. The article highlights its viewpoint in the quote, “When the expense is food or agricultural land, the effect is poorer nutrition. When the expense is forests or woody savannas, the effect is less stored carbon." The debate stands, do we need energy or do we need food for our growing population?

The risk of sacrificing carbon storage and biodiversity

According to the United Nations (UN) Energy, carbon storage areas such as forests or areas with high conservation value containing biodiversity are being demolished due to land-grabbing for the rapid expansion of bioenergy production. This method of bioenergy production has negative consequences for climate change and for carbon storage. Since, land is a contested and a scarce resource - it should be used wisely, as it is a place of habitat for humans and animals. Land also has value, which is being used for different economic sectors such as transportation, agriculture and  tourism, just to list a few. Simultaneously, ecosystem services need to be available for human activity, especially for livelihoods. According to UN Energy, an ecosystem service is what the environment can provide, which benefits a human, for instance, a savannah or a forest. Further, biodiversity needs to be preserved by reducing deforestation and where our forests can act as carbon sinks to combat climate change. Further, UN Energy suggests that every country should go through an environmental assessment first to assess whether the country has a potential for bioenergy production based on suitability and availability of land resources.

The viewpoint and opinions from the research above

Nature states that Europe can plan for a more environmentally-friendly land future by, “Preserving older forests from harvest is another priority for both carbon and biodiversity. Planting fast-growing trees on agricultural lands could replace the foregone wood supply.” Equivalently, in Le Monde, a researcher states that, "The authors of this analysis are right to show that we are not going to decarbonize the European Union's economic system by simply pushing biomass," said Pierre-Marie Aubert, a researcher in agricultural policies at the Institute for sustainable development and international relations, who was not involved in this work. But above all, we will have to develop energy sobriety and change our diets to reduce our consumption of animal products." Both articles oppose the idea that bioenergy should be prioritised over biodiversity and carbon storage.

A way forward with bioenergy based on personal viewpoint

Personally, bioenergy should not be the main focus when transitioning to renewable energy, as there are other types of renewable energy that can be prioritised, such as hydropower, solar and wind energy. These energy production and consumption methods are less harmful to our environment without causing deforestation and reducing agricultural land. Further, land degradation has already occurred due to urban expansion for human use and this same land has lost its value both for agricultural and biofuel production. This is why the EU now wants to remove the remaining non-degraded agricultural land to prioritise biofuels as we are globally running out of land space. 

Where are we going to grow our food? Is vertical farming, which requires no soil going to be replaced for the lost land, but then would this method be an efficient carbon sink? The European Union can also move towards hydropower, solar and wind energy and not just biofuels. We need to produce energy that speaks to environmental justice and sustainable development.