Cost Benefit and Risk Analysis of Low iLUC Bioenergy Production in Europe Using Monte Carlo Simulation

Perennial biomass cropping and use: Shaping the policy ecosystem in European countries

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.

Critical Issues and Opportunities for Producing Biomethane in Italy

Nowadays, most Italian biogas produces electricity even though recent political incentives are promoting biomethane from biogas by “upgrading” it. The aim of this paper is to focus on the regulatory framework for producing biomethane from new or already-existent anaerobic digestion plants. The complexity and lack of knowledge of the regulations on biofuel production and of anaerobic digested biomethane from waste and by-products create difficulties of both interpretation and application. Consequently, the aim of this paper is to analyze the regulations for producing biomethane, underline the critical issues and opportunities, and evaluate whether an electrical plant built in the last 10 years in Italy can really be converted to a biomethane plant, thereby lengthening its lifespan. Three case studies were considered to look more closely into applying Italian biomethane incentives and to simulate the types of incentivization in agriculture with examples based on certain fuel types typical of a standard biomethane plant of 500 standard cubic meter per hour. All the considered cases put in evidence that biomethane is a further opportunity for development with a high level of efficiency for all biogas producers, especially for many biogas plants whose incentivization period is about to finish.