With leaders in the sustainable bioenergy industry, Graanul Invest signed the The Glasgow Declaration on Sustainable Bioenergy

The Glasgow Declaration on Sustainable Bioenergy, published on 10th of November, uses International Energy Agency (IEA) data to highlight the indispensable role that sustainable bioenergy will play to help the world achieve global Net Zero by mid-century. This target would help the world to meet the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C target, and the IEA’s ‘Net Zero Scenario’ projects threefold growth in the use of sustainable bioenergy to achieve it.

The Declaration has been signed by a coalition of thirteen wood bioenergy companies and organisations from around the world, including Graanul Invest, setting out a vision for the sector’s ambitious growth to support the push to global Net Zero.

The document also details a framework of sustainability principles that are already helping to deliver sustainable wood-based bioenergy and must continue to underpin the entire industry as it grows internationally. The framework includes robust carbon accounting and supply chain transparency, resource management, biodiversity and supporting communities.

The IEA’s Net Zero Scenario anticipates that sustainable wood bioenergy must increase threefold to deliver 4% of the global energy supply by 2050. This will reduce emissions by one billion tonnes of CO2e per year compared to 2020 – more than is currently emitted by the world’s entire aviation industry. These reductions will come from a combination of replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy and delivering negative emissions through bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS).

The expansion of wood bioenergy could also support more than 200,000 additional jobs in the supply chain by 2030, and more than 450,000 additional jobs by 2050, providing employment and investment in under-resourced communities in both rural and industrial areas.

The group invites all participants in the broader bioenergy sector, including industry, civil society, academia, and governments, to join the signatories and help achieve the full potential of sustainable bioenergy to help deliver global Net Zero.

Key points regarding the declaration:

  • A new Glasgow Declaration on Sustainable Bioenergy sets out how wood-based bioenergy can help tackle climate change, with a world-wide industry standard for sustainability at its core.
  • By 2030, sustainable wood-based bioenergy is projected to reduce net global emissions by 600 million tonnes of CO2e annually and one billion tonnes of CO2e by 2050 – more than is currently emitted by the world’s entire aviation industry.
  • The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says: “Bioenergy use is substantial in 1.5°C pathways with or without BECCS due to its multiple roles in decarbonizing energy use.”
  • The Declaration sets a global standard of sustainability for the industry, aiming to launch a cross-sector dialogue about how wood bioenergy can deliver to its full potential as an indispensable tool for reaching global Net Zero.

Background

Sustainable wood bioenergy is recognised as essential for meeting our climate goals by the leading authorities on climate change, including the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the IEA, and the UK’s Climate Change Committee.

The Glasgow Declaration on Sustainable Bioenergy has two main parts:

  1. A vision for the sustainable growth of the global wood bioenergy sector over the next 10 to 30 years, based on pathways set out by the International Energy Agency and IPCC.
  2. A framework of sustainability principles that are already helping to deliver sustainable wood bioenergy and must continue to underpin the entire industry as it grows. These principles outline a sustainable approach to wood bioenergy covering four key areas: managing natural resources responsibly; transparency and science-based carbon accounting; protecting biodiversity; and supporting and protecting communities. The principles are not intended as a replacement for detailed regulations and certification schemes, which are necessary to ensure sustainability.

Bioenergy is the world’s leading form of renewable energy, supplying five times more energy than wind and solar combined (across transport, heat, and power). Sustainable wood bioenergy has already contributed significantly to decarbonising the energy sector by providing a reliable, low-carbon, renewable alternative to fossil fuels. It has directly replaced coal in some cases where coal power stations have been converted to run on sustainably sourced biomass. It also provides flexible energy, which supports a diverse low-carbon energy mix, including wind and solar power.

When sustainable wood bioenergy is combined with carbon capture and storage (known as BECCS), it provides negative emissions by capturing carbon at scale and burying it permanently underground, which helps to offset emissions from hard-to-decarbonise sectors such as aviation and agriculture.

Graanul Invest operations and activities have always been – and will continue to be – designed for and dedicated to creating a globally sustainable and renewable energy system to replace fossil fuel emissions.

The net-zero targets can be achieved only if we are able to replace fossil fuels today, not tomorrow. Biomass is the only sustainable and immediately available fuel for traditional powerplants to substitute coal or natural gas.

Wood pellets production is a unique example of a sustainable and really working circular economy on an industrial scale. Audited, sustainable, resilient but nevertheless – realistic and affordable.

For more information, please visit the declaration website sustainablebioenergy.org