The end of Big Biomass in Flanders By Sini Eräjää, EU bioenergy policy officer at BirdLife Europe & Central Asia. A bit less than a year ago, it was stated that the honeymoon was over for large-scale biomass energy in Flanders, but now it seems clear that the affair is completely
New publication: the Black Book of Bioenergy We’re excited to announce that on 22 November, BirdLife Europe and Central Asia, in collaboration with Transport & Environment, launched our new joint publication: The Black Book of Bioenergy. Following extensive on-the-ground investigation, and after consulting an array of local sources, we have collected
Seeing is believing, and witnessing first-hand the devastating effect that the European Union’s renewable energy policy is having on the forests and wetlands of the Southeast United States, offers overwhelming evidence of the urgent need to act.
Rural development and helping farmers has been a motive to promote bioenergy on the premise that it offers new economic opportunities in rural communities while increasing renewable energy use. The reality is that a good share of the bioenergy pushed for this purpose hasn’t necessarily supported these rural communities, nor has it exactly been sustainable or renewable. Spanish NGO Ecologistas en Accion share their views on how bioenergy can be an environmentally sustainable choice while supporting rural communities.
Green Invasion By guest author Fred Pearce, author and journalist Europe’s once peaceful forests are being invaded – in the name of green energy. To meet European Union policies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and promoting renewable electricity and heating, governments from France to Romania are providing huge subsidies for
Honeymoon is over for biomass in Flanders By guest author Sara Van Dyck, Bond Beter Leefmilieu, Belgium Looks like the biomass honeymoon is over as the skyrocketing price tag of large biomass plants has led to a U-turn in Flemish renewable energy policy. The Flemish government has just cancelled the
Biofuels, doesn’t look like France is learning from mistakes By guest author Camille Dorioz, Chargé de mission agriculture, FNE and Cyrielle Denhartigh, Responsible at Agriculture et Alimentation, RAC France can be viewed as the nerve center of European biofuels production. Thanks to lobbying by the national agricultural sector and agroindustry, biofuels only
Corn mania, the absurd hunger for bioenergy in Germany By guest author Dr. Uwe Baumert, expert for renewable energies, Regional Deputy Chairman, NABU-Lower Saxony One can see that landscapes have been changing in Germany as wild herbs, cows and insects disappear, especially across grasslands. Why? It’s because of “corn-mania” or
Biodiesel: a cure worse than the fossil disease By Lisa Benedetti, BirdLife Europe Biodiesel is the most consumed biofuel in Europe. It is projected to make up almost 70% of the EU biofuels market by 2020. This dependence poses some questions, so the European Commission is now considering what its
GRAS – a tool to guarantee sustainable bioenergy By guest authors Mohammad Abdel-Razek, Jan Henke, Pascal Ripplinger, GRAS Global Risk Assessment Services GmbH The International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) acknowledges that “bioenergy has a significant greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation potential, provided that the resources are developed sustainably”. True, the
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