|
|||||
|
|
Perennial biomass cropping and use: Shaping the policy ecosystem in European countries |
|
| Authors: | John Clifton-Brown Astley Hastings Moritz von Cossel Donal Murphy-Bokern Jon McCalmont Jeanette Whitaker Efi Alexopoulou Stefano Amaducci Larisa Andronic Christopher Ashman Danny Awty-Carroll Rakesh Bhatia Lutz Breuer Salvatore Cosentino William Cracroft-Eley Iain Donnison Berien Elbersen Andrea Ferrarini Judith Ford Jörg Greef Julie Ingram Iris Lewandowski Elena Magenau Michal Mos Martin Petrick Marta Pogrzeba Paul Robson Rebecca L. Rowe Anatolii Sandu Kai-Uwe Schwarz Danilo Scordia Jonathan Scurlock Anita Shepherd Judith Thornton Luisa M. Trindade Sylvia Vetter Moritz Wagner Pei-Chen Wu Toshihiko Yamada Andreas Kiesel |
| Affiliation: | 1. Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences, Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth, UK;2. Institute of Biological and Environmental Sciences, School of Biological Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK;3. Department of Biobased Resources in the Bioeconomy (340b), Institute of Crop Science, University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany;4. Kroge-Ehrendorf, Lohne, Germany;5. UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster, UK;6. Center for Renewable Energy Sources and Saving (CRES), Pikermi Attikis, Greece;7. Department of Sustainable Crop Production, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Piacenza, Italy;8. Institute of Genetics and Plant Physiology of the Academy of Sciences of Moldova, Chisinau, Republic of Moldova;9. Department of Agronomy and Plant Breeding I, Research Centre for Biosystems, Land Use and Nutrition (iFZ), Justus Liebig University, Gießen, Germany;10. Institute for Landscape Ecology and Resources Management (ILR), Research Centre for Biosystems, Land Use and Nutrition (iFZ), Justus Liebig University Giessen, Giessen, Germany;11. Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment (Di3A), University of Catania, Catania, Italy;12. Terravesta Ltd, Unit 4, Riverside Court, Lincoln, UK;13. Team Earth Informatics, Wageningen Environmental Research, Wageningen, Netherlands;14. School of Chemical and Process Engineering, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK;15. Institute for Crop and Soil Science, Federal Research Centre for Cultivated Plants, Julius Kühn Institute, Braunschweig, Germany;16. Countryside & Community Research Institute, University of Gloucestershire, Gloucestershire, UK;17. Energene Seeds Limited, AIEC Office Block, Gogerddan, Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth, UK;18. Centre for International Development and Environmental Research (ZEU), Justus Liebig University, Giessen, Germany Institute for Agricultural Policy and Market Research, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Giessen, Germany;19. Institute for Ecology of Industrial Areas, Katowice, Poland;20. Dipartmento di Scienze Veterinarie, University of Messina, Polo Universitario dell'Annunziata, Messina, Italy;21. National Farmers' Union, Stoneleigh Park, UK;22. Plant Breeding, Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen, Netherlands;23. Department of Applied Ecology, Geisenheim University, Geisenheim, Germany;24. Field Science Center for Northern Biosphere, Hokkaido University, Hokkaido, Japan |
| Abstract: | Demand for sustainably produced biomass is expected to increase with the need to provide renewable commodities, improve resource security and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in line with COP26 commitments. Studies have demonstrated additional environmental benefits of using perennial biomass crops (PBCs), when produced appropriately, as a feedstock for the growing bioeconomy, including utilisation for bioenergy (with or without carbon capture and storage). PBCs can potentially contribute to Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) (2023–27) objectives provided they are carefully integrated into farming systems and landscapes. Despite significant research and development (R&D) investment over decades in herbaceous and coppiced woody PBCs, deployment has largely stagnated due to social, economic and policy uncertainties. This paper identifies the challenges in creating policies that are acceptable to all actors. Development will need to be informed by measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) of greenhouse gas emissions reductions and other environmental, economic and social metrics. It discusses interlinked issues that must be considered in the expansion of PBC production: (i) available land; (ii) yield potential; (iii) integration into farming systems; (iv) R&D requirements; (v) utilisation options; and (vi) market systems and the socio-economic environment. It makes policy recommendations that would enable greater PBC deployment: (1) incentivise farmers and land managers through specific policy measures, including carbon pricing, to allocate their less productive and less profitable land for uses which deliver demonstrable greenhouse gas reductions; (2) enable greenhouse gas mitigation markets to develop and offer secure contracts for commercial developers of verifiable low-carbon bioenergy and bioproducts; (3) support innovation in biomass utilisation value chains; and (4) continue long-term, strategic R&D and education for positive environmental, economic and social sustainability impacts. |
| Keywords: | BECCS bioeconomy value chains biomass utilisation circular economy energy security farm subsidies food security integration into farm business land availability policy recommendation |