Bioenergy Europe welcomes the effort of the European Commission to develop a scheme to certify removals of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere - with a recognition of BECCS as a key enabler.
Brussels, 30 November 2022 – Bioenergy Europe welcomes the effort of the European Commission to develop a scheme to certify removals of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere - with a recognition of BECCS as a key enabler.
The newly presented certification on carbon dioxide removals represents an opportunity for regulatory leadership, to build trust in safe and effective carbon removals technologies and establish new demand incentives to drive short- and long-term investments in these technologies. Bioenergy Europe is glad to see that Europe is recognising BECCS (Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage) as an industrial technology capable of capturing and storing carbon permanently, being one of the most prominent, developed and cost-effective solutions for carbon removal.
This is an important step forward for the European Commission to put in place the necessary instruments that ensure carbon removals are monitored, verified and accounted. If done well, the EU's new certification for carbon removals will finally provide clarity for international actors, after discussions at the COP27 climate conference failed to deliver agreement on a key text for removals.
A clear definition of permanence is required in terms of what can and cannot be counted as carbon removed from the atmosphere – in order to prevent any substantial risk that the carbon will be released again into the atmosphere after several years or decades. There is no silver bullet or one-size-fits-all solution to reach netzero emissions by 2050, and every solution has its role to play; for this reason, we regret to see that the role of biochar is neglected and not adequately recognised in the European Commission's proposal.
"We call upon the Expert Group to provide technical advice on the matter and to include biochar as an immediately available and durable Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) method, to be included in the scope of the proposal alongside BECCS and Direct Air Capture and Storage (DACS)” states Ennio Prizzi, Policy Officer at Bioenergy Europe.
