Bioenergy Europe is an international trade association based in Brussels. The members of Bioenergy Europe are actors representing all steps of the bioenergy value chain: national associations, biomass producers, biomass traders, biomass end-users, technology providers, consultancies and service providers, researchers and academic partners.

Bioenergy Europe pursues legitime objectives, including representing the common interests of its members before EU institutions and administrative bodies, as well as the wider public. Bioenergy Europe also aims to inform its members, EU institutions and the general public on market developments and statistics related to the bioenergy sector. Such aspects of Bioenergy Europe’s operations are consistent with competition laws and are a fundamental part of the mission of trade associations.

In the context of its activities, Bioenergy Europe acts in complete accordance with applicable competition rules, including (but not limited to) Articles 101 and 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. This is particularly important, since Bioenergy Europe includes as its members several companies who may be competing with each other. Towards this goal, Bioenergy Europe has adopted the following Guidelines on Compliance with Competition Law Requirements. The rules apply for all activities organized by Bioenergy Europe, such as Working Group meetings, General Assembly and Board meetings, conferences, webinars and any other kind of social event.

• Members should not share information that is commercially sensitive regarding their own or their competitors’ business activities. Such include includes, but is not limited to, prices, market shares, raw material and production costs, sales, deliveries and others.
• Members should not discuss or agree to prices, price changes and trends and price policies.
• Members should also not discuss or agree to limits or allocation of sale territories, customers and sourcing of raw material and parts.
• Members should not discuss or agree to limit or control production levels, inventories, materials, investments and other similar items.
• Exchange of information and discussion on statistics and market trends is permitted, provided that safeguards are in place. Current data may only be disclosed in aggregate figures that relate to at least three operators. Disclosure of information of individual operators that is usually considered as confidential (i.e. capacity utilization, prices, production levels, sales, market shares, etc.) is not permitted, unless at least 12 months have passed since the reporting time.
• Bioenergy Europe is not responsible for competition law infringements of its members and Bioenergy Europe is committed to never support, assist or get involved in any such conduct by members.
• Meetings of Bioenergy Europe require the presence of an association representative. Meetings should have a clearly defined agenda, communicated to members well in advance and their minutes should be an accurate reflection of what was discussed. Bioenergy Europe will include an antitrust compliance reminder at the beginning of every meeting and in the minutes of every meeting.
• All Bioenergy Europe representatives, chairpersons, members and any external observers present in a meeting are responsible for complying with the competition law requirements. Reaction to potentially improper discussions should be immediate. In such cases, the Bioenergy Europe representative as well as the chairperson should provide guidance (i.e. indicating that the discussion is inappropriate during Bioenergy Europe meetings) and terminate discussions. If this is not feasible, then the representative of Bioenergy Europe should leave the meeting and the chairperson should end it. Such instances will be recorded in the minutes of the meeting.

It should be highlighted that the adoption of these Guidelines is not meant to discourage membership in Bioenergy Europe and participation in its activities. On the contrary, these Guidelines aim to ensure that the activities of Bioenergy Europe take place in a regulated environment and that its members are comfortable in attending meetings that are lawfully organized. If a member, or a potential member of Bioenergy Europe, has any questions regarding the current Guidelines or recommendations for their improvement, they are warmly encouraged to reach out to the Secretariat of Bioenergy Europe.

Background

The EU has committed to reaching climate neutrality by 2050 in order to secure a liveable future on our continent and our planet. The first and most urgent priority is the reduction of EU greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, but at the same time the EU needs to compensate for residual emissions that cannot be eliminated – by removing carbon from the atmosphere to decrease the overall carbon that is present. These carbon dioxide removals (CDR) are negative emissions because they reduce the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), carbon removal is necessary in order to limit global warming to 1.5°C.

To promote sustainable solutions and innovative carbon capture and storage technologies, the European Commission has presented a proposal for the first EU-wide voluntary framework for a reliable certification of high-quality carbon removals (Carbon Removal Certification Framework, CRCF). The proposal sets out criteria to define high-quality carbon removals and lays out the process for monitoring, reporting and verifying the authenticity of these removals. This certification framework aims to boost innovative carbon removal technologies and sustainable carbon farming solutions, while also fighting greenwashing.

The role of bioenergy

There are many different CDR technologies, including several that utilise biomass. The two main technologies are (1) bioenergy with carbon capture and storage and (2) biochar carbon removal. Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS) involves any energy pathway where CO2 is captured from a biogenic source and permanently stored. BECCS is a more cost-effective technology for reducing carbon dioxide than many alternatives. But despite BECCS being effective in terms of the amount of carbon dioxide that is reduced, the costs associated with implementation of this technology are high. Updated regulations and new economic instruments are therefore necessary for enabling the creation of large carbon sinks. Biochar Carbon Removal (BCR) involves a chemical process called pyrolysis. Pyrolysis takes place at a lower temperature than combustion – and involves the vaporisation of compounds and elements other than carbon in the biogenic material – leaving only solid, pure carbon behind. This material, called biochar, can then be used to enhance soil in agriculture or to act as an additive in concrete, among other applications.

Our position

Bioenergy Europe welcomes the European Commission’s CRCF proposal to develop high-quality carbon removals in Europe and enable climate neutrality. The proposal outlines the start of a process, and we support a sound and harmonised governance framework that is very much needed for this essential sector. There is clear need for further details from the Expert Group and secondary legislation, considering that the QU.A.L.ITY criteria generally focus on high-quality removals – if they are based on robust quantification – to ensure that net removal is being delivered. We believe that there is too much fragmentation in voluntary space; and having a scheme developed at the EU level will provide greater certainty, transparency and clarity for the industry. It is also a chance for the EU to set the standard in establishing a world-leading carbon removal certification framework that could be used as a blueprint across the world. Cost-effective and permanent removals, not to mention transparency (monitoring, reporting, verification), are all important operational goals. This means, among other things, that the main purpose of the certification activity must remain the promotion of carbon removals, while the certification activity itself must not become unreasonably complicated. Especially in the case of technological removals, the cost of investment and of operating the equipment for technological removals is on such a scale that, without any reward for the removal, it is difficult to see any investment taking place. Clear guidelines, on how various types of removal certificate can and cannot be used, are therefore necessary.