The use of biomass in Denmark is steadily increasing, and this has major consequences for forests and nature. It is therefore positive that Brussels is working on an improvement of the EU Directive for Renewable Energy (RE Directive). However, there are no plans to completely prevent support for the use of biomass as a renewable energy source, as the Danish Forest Association claims in Climate Monitor on 22 February. The new VE directive does not go that far. Instead, the European Parliament has proposed tighter rules, including that wood-based biomass taken directly from forests cannot be counted in countries' renewable energy targets if it is used at a level above the average from the period 2017-2020.

The directive thus far prevents the use of all primary wood biomass. According to the Climate Council, Denmark's consumption of biomass in 2030 is expected to be at the level of the average from 2017-2020, and the European Parliament's proposal to put a cap on counting biomass in the countries' climate targets should therefore not cause any concern in Denmark at all.  

If new tightening of the directive comes to affect Danish biomass consumption, it will be as a consequence of our overconsumption of this energy source, and not unreasonable demands. The UN's Climate Council (IPCC) estimates that a global sustainable consumption of biomass should be 10 GJ per citizen in 2050. In Denmark we are already at 40 GJ per citizen. The Climate Council also states in their new status report that the Danish consumption of biomass is not sustainable in the long term and does not make sense from a climate perspective either. Biomass is not CO2-neutral, especially not in the quantities used today in Denmark. Incentives to reduce our consumption and ensure that other countries follow suit would be welcome. 

The use of biomass in Europe, like in Denmark, has been steadily increasing over the past several years. In Europe, biomass consumption has increased by 239% since 1990 and is expected to increase further towards 2030. One of the main reasons for this massive overconsumption of biomass is that the EU's Renewable Energy Directive allows member states to count biomass as renewable energy and even provide state support for it . 

The directive is now under revision in the EU. For forests, biodiversity and the climate, the ideal result of the revision would be if the directive prevented biomass from being labeled as a renewable energy source in future. However, that proposal is completely out of the question. The best proposal for the revision is therefore the European Parliament's proposal to set a ceiling on how the use of biomass taken directly from the forests can be counted towards the countries' climate targets. . 

The negotiations in the EU on the renewable energy directive are not over yet, but the member states in the Council of Ministers are fighting to maintain the status quo and allow continued and increasing overconsumption of biomass. This is happening despite the fact that we are in the middle of a climate and biodiversity crisis. 

Denmark should support the elected representatives 
Denmark should support the European Parliament's proposal, which can limit the great pressure on the forests that the increased demand for biomass has led to. At the same time, it will be able to create an incentive for the preparation of a sustainable biomass strategy in Denmark.

The Danish Forest Association points out in their debate submission that an abolition of the subsidy for the use of biomass will affect the production of timber and other forms of useful wood, as the individual forest owner will lose motivation to produce wood at all. If it is really the case that the forest owners are only motivated by the possibility of selling wood for burning, our joint focus should be on finding other ways to encourage the forest owners to produce wood – perhaps even to sustainable forest operation and management with an eye to biodiversity, climate and nature.

Furthermore, it should also be taken into account that almost half of Denmark's biomass is imported. Thus, our use of biomass as an energy source not only burdens Danish land, but also contributes to the biodiversity crisis globally, as the Climate Council has pointed out. It is necessary to take care of the forests and let especially old and large trees remain in the forest both to protect biodiversity and maintain CO₂- the warehouses in the forests. This is essential to combating two of the serious crises we are facing right now; the biodiversity crisis and the climate crisis. 

The Danish Forestry Association writes that we can only achieve our climate goals in Denmark if we continue to include biomass as a CO2-neutral energy source in our climate accounts. If that is the case, we should consider whether we want real CO2 reductions or just meeting targets on paper. Both the Climate Council and the European Parliament recommend completely avoiding the burning of trees directly from the forests and instead find a sustainable practice for renewable energy sources and forestry.

Denmark's climate ambitions should mean that we support the most ambitious initiatives to stop the overconsumption of biomass and serve as a good example for other countries. We therefore call on the Danish government to support the European Parliament's proposal to set a ceiling on the use of primary wood-based biomass and stop subsidies for this type of energy source, as well as work on a plan to phase out the use of biomass in general.

The debate article was also published in Klimamonitor on 7 March 2023 and written by Julie Abrahamsen, energy and climate adviser, Green Transition Denmark, Anne-Sofie Sadolin Henningsen, adviser, Verdens Skove, Thomas Meinert Larsen, climate policy adviser, Climate Movement, Morten Nielsen, policy and campaign coordinator, Global Action, Jacob Bjelskov Jørgensen, political advisor and project manager, New Europe and Knud N. Flensted, Danish Ornithological Association – BirdLife.